


Letting Go

by afangirlimagines



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Daycare, Alternate Universe - Parents, Domestic, F/M, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M, Single Parents, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2018-09-21 23:51:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 47,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9572342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afangirlimagines/pseuds/afangirlimagines
Summary: “Shiro, I don’t know about this. I’ve never left Leo with someone who wasn’t family.”Keith is a single dad trying to raise his son Leo, worry about custody from his ex, manage his two jobs, and now... a crush? To say he's got enough on his plate would be an understatement. But the one thing he's certain of is Leo always comes first.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So throughout the fic, you will see the term "cheonsa" used. This translates to "angel" in Korean and it is a pet name Keith has for his son Leo.

“Shiro, I don’t know about this. I’ve never left Leo with someone who wasn’t family.” Keith was on the phone with his brother, just trying to figure out what to do now. He was glad all the papers were signed and he didn’t have to stick with his ex Nyma anymore, but that did mean that someone else had to watch Leo while Keith was working. And since Shiro had a job too, that meant finding a daycare. Which filled Keith with dread. 

“Keith, trust me. I know the people who work at this daycare, and I consider them friends. They’re great guys. Besides, I’m literally right across the street. If hell breaks loose, I can be there in a few seconds. You always roast my morning sprints, but you’re going to be thanking me now. I could probably make it there in 2 seconds, even from my office on the second floor.”

“Shiro, just shut it. But fine, I’ll try the daycare out. Just for today, though. And I expect you to check in on Leo during your lunch hour, got it?”

“Deal. It’s healthy for you to get used to being separated from him, you know? He’s only a year away from being enrolled in school.”

“Yeah, the school you run, idiot. So it’s not like would be be alone.”

“You’re overprotective, Keith. And you know it’s serious if I’m the one saying so.”

Keith sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. “You know he’s already seen enough. He has divorced parents, who would continually fight for the first four years of his life. I don’t think I’m in the wrong by trying to make sure everything else goes well in his life.”

“I’m just saying that you can’t ensure that. You’re doing a good job raising him. You’re just increasing your blood pressure by worrying this much.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just send me the address for the daycare. I’m leaving in like 10 minutes. Bye.”

Leo was just finishing up breakfast, a few frozen waffles that Keith had toasted up and a small bowl of cut up strawberries. Keith had laid out the clothes his son was going to wear on the chair, knowing better than to dress Leo until he finishes his messy eating habits. 

“Okay, Leo. Let’s get you cleaned up so we can head out,” Keith says as he lifts up his son and brings him towards the sink. He sits him on the counter, careful to stand in front of him to make sure he doesn’t lean forward and fall, while wetting a cloth to clean up the syrup that had made his hands and chin a sticky mess. 

“Papa, you normally spend time with me in the morning. Where are we going?” Leo pouted, crossing his arms, which thankfully Keith cleaned first. He started rubbing Leo’s face with the cloth, leading to Leo making faces, as he replied.

“Well, you know how Mom and Papa live in separate houses now? Well, sometimes that means that Papa is going to have to work during the weeks you’re staying with me. So we are going to visit a daycare today. There are going to be a bunch of other kids your age, and guess what? Uncle Shiro works right across the street. He’s promised to eat lunch with you!”

Leo smiled when he heard Shiro’s promise. “Papa, are you going to stay, too? So we can all eat lunch together?” Leo tripped over the word together a bit, but that just made it cuter in Keith’s opinion. 

Keith lifted Leo onto his hip. “I’m sorry, cheonsa. Not today. Papa’s got to work, but guess what? Mom is going to pick you up after daycare today. You’re going to spend this week with her, okay?”

Leo pouted, not giving a verbal response. Keith felt bad, but he knew he had to keep this job. He only recently got the promotion to being a manager at their local coffee shop, Altean Specialities, and he didn’t want to push it. That was the reason Nyma had to look after Leo this week too, because Keith wanted to get used to his new hours and make a good impression regarding his managerial debut. Also, if he puts in a few extra hours this week, it’ll help if he has to take off time later for Leo.

“Come on, don’t frown. You know, it’ll freeze like that.”  
“That’s silly, Papa.”

“I don’t know, Leo. I heard that’s how statues are made.” Leo giggled a little bit, and Keith counted it as a win, happy to get a smile back on his kid’s face. 

After Leo was fully dressed, Keith grabbed his keys and headed towards the car, Leo holding his hand and taking big steps to keep pace. Leo’s car seat was situated behind the driver, so that Keith could watch him in the back. He pulls up the address of the daycare Shiro texted him and plugs it into his GPS. 

“Papa?”

“Mmhmm?”

“What are the other kids going to be like?”

“I’m sure they’ll be really nice, Leo. Try to talk to a few of them. I promise they won’t bite.” Leo always wasn’t the best at socializing, even though most kids his age seemed to excel at it. Keith prayed that maybe being in a daycare would help him overcome this. Or maybe a nice kid would approach him so Leo would have a friend or two.

“I don’t know. Some do bite, Papa.”

“Well I’m sure the adults will make sure you don’t get bit, okay cheonsa?”

“Okay Papa.”

Keith was just pulling up to the daycare when he saw the sign with its name. He rolled his eyes and scoffed.  _ Of course Shiro would recommend a place with such a cheesy name. Little Lions, wow.  _

Leo was staring through the window, but it didn’t seem like any other kids were there yet. 

“Papa, are you sure there are going to be other kids here?”

“Yes, Leo. Don’t worry. We are just here a little early, okay? Papa’s job starts early. And look, they’ve got Tangled playing on the TV! You love that movie!”

Keith got him out of the car seat and lead him inside of the daycare. He was a bit nervous to see that no other kids were there yet, but he trusted Shiro. Besides, most people don’t have to be at their jobs until 9, and Keith was entering the day care only 15 minutes after they opened at 7.

A large, dark-skinned man came from a side room after hearing the bell ring, and lit up when he saw Keith. “Hi! First-timer here, right?”

“Uh, yeah. How could you tell?”

“Well, we try to make it a personal goal to know all the kids, and I haven’t seen this cutie here before.” Leo hid his face in Keith’s leg at that comment, leading Keith to pat the top of his head lightly. “And Shiro said we’d be getting his brother stopping by early this morning.”

“Oh, he told you I was coming?”

“Yeah, and I mean, it’s not hard to tell you two are related. Different figures, yeah, but you both have pretty much the same skin tone and hair. Plus the look in your eyes. Brings major Shiro flashbacks.” He smiled widely and stuck his hand out to Keith. “I’m Hunk Garrett, by the way.”  
“Keith Kogane. Nice to meet you.” Keith knelt down and nudged Leo and whispered for him to introduce himself. Leo looked up at the big man in front of him, who was squatting now.

“You know Uncle Shiro?”

“Of course, buddy. He’s my friend. You know, if you want, later today, I can take you across the street to go visit him.” Leo’s face split into a big grin at that and he hugged Hunk as tightly as he could. 

“Okay, but not during lunch. He promised to come here for lunch.”  
Hunk laughed and mussed his hair. “Okay bud.”

Keith straightened along with Hunk. “Um, so do I need to sign my son in, or something? Also, how much does the cost come out to be?”

“Well, you get a family discount since your brother is an employee, so…”

“Wait, Shiro works at the school, though?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? This daycare is run through the school. Pretty much all the kids who go to this daycare end up going through the elementary school your brother’s the principal of.”  
“Oh, no wonder he recommended this place then.”

“Um, so all of that considered, it’s going to be about 350 a month. Usually it is closer to 500, but hopefully that sounds good.”

“Definitely. Thank you so much.” Keith gave Hunk his contact information before also giving his ex’s. “Nyma Prorok is his mother, and she’s going to be the one picking up tonight. And just for future reference, you can put Shiro on the list of his guardians as well. Leo doesn’t have any allergies, though in terms of meat he really only eats chicken nuggets and nothing else.”

“As most kids do. And just let Nyma know to bring some photo ID and after we know her face, she should be good for future reference. But you’re all done here.”

“Thank you so much, Hunk. It means a lot.” Keith bent down to his son, who was quietly observing their interactions. “Hey cheonsa, I’m gonna go now, okay. I’ll see you next week, okay? And you have my number in your backpack still, right?

“Yes, Papa.” Leo hugged Keith and when he let go he looked up at Hunk with a sparkle in his eye. “Can you start Tangled from the beginning now?” When Hunk nodded, he quickly ran to lay on the pile of pillows in front of the screen. 

“Well, I guess I’m no longer needed here.” Keith chuckled slightly. It felt weird, leaving Leo like this. Especially now since because of the divorce he won’t see him for another week. But it was for the best. He had a bittersweet smile on his face as he finally stepped out and heard the bell on the door ring faintly behind him. Shiro’s voice rung in the back of his mind:  _ It’s healthy for you to get used to being separated from him, you know? _ Keith rolled his eyes before climbing into his car to head to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at this art of Leo: http://thefivecrazypeople.tumblr.com/post/156854221714


	2. Chapter 2

Lance knew he was running late. But nobody checked in on how the daycare was running as long as there were no complaints. And Hunk always gets there 15 minutes early so he can set up a bit and let in the parents. If it really became an issue, Hunk could just drag him out when he was leaving their apartment anyway. But even Hunk would rather Lance come late than having him be early and grumpy. And it’s not like Lance doesn’t pull his share once he’s there. And he greets the parents when they come to pick them up, so that should count for something.

Before he could go to work, though, he needed to stop by and pick up his and Hunk’s coffees. Or rather, Lance’s caramel macchiato and Hunk’s masala chai. Lance wasn’t even sure that Hunk’s drink had caffeine in it, but Hunk also didn’t really need it. The coffee shop, Altean Specialities, was only like 5 minutes from the daycare, but it only opened at 7:30, half an hour after Little Lions opened for business. Hence why Lance being late became a routine. Sure, Hunk suggested he go to a coffee shop that’s open earlier but he just doesn’t understand that one, this place has some of the best coffee Lance has ever tasted, and two, all other coffee shops are out of the way. 

As Lance walked in, he took in a deep inhale of warm air. It was that mixture of coffee and baking biscottis that made the aroma intoxicating. Lance walked up to the counter and rang the little bell sitting on the table. Since he always came within five minutes of opening, he was used to nobody being at the front. He didn’t mind though, loving the cozy environment that the gentle lighting and soft music provided.

“Coran, got any crazy stories from the weekend? It’s just me, so if you could just get the regular together, that’d be great.” Lance calls back, waiting for the vibrant orange hair (which Lance was certain he dyed, although he’s never seen a hair out of place to give him away) to pop out from the back.

“Hi, um, there was a change in schedules, so I’m actually going to be working the mornings. So what’s your usual?” A man appeared out of the back, carrying a gallon of milk with him. He had long dark hair that was currently tied into a small ponytail, eyes that Lance would swear looked violet, and  _ amazing  _ arms. Lance was going to start drooling if he checked this guy out anymore, and he couldn’t even see his lower half.

Before Lance could process what was coming out of his mouth, he said, “Is your name Google? Because you have everything I’m searching for.”

The man in front of him looked dumbfounded, before scrunching his eyebrows slightly and responding, “No, my name’s Keith. I’m wearing a nametag.”

Lance wasn’t really sure how to respond to what Keith just said. He’s definitely had pick up lines fail before, and usually he just goes for it, waiting to see what happens but never expecting much. But he never expected someone to not realize he was hitting on them. He opened his mouth and closed it once, twice, before finally saying, “Uh, right,” and awkwardly telling Keith his regular order and paying for it. 

While Keith was fixing the orders together, Lance deciding to try to start up a conversation. “So, what happened to Coran? Did he get fired or something?”

“No, he’s the owner. He just switched to the late night shifts. We get a lot of college kids so...” Keith trailed off, figuring he didn’t need to finish what he was saying. 

“Must be good for business,” Lance mumbled. He wasn’t really sure what to say. With most people, Lance was so good at immediately hitting off a conversation, but this just felt stale. And part of his morning routines was getting at least one crazy story out of Coran, so it felt weird to not have that. 

“I’m Lance, by the way. I’m a regular. I’m guessing you’re new here?”

“No, I’m the manager. I used to work night shifts until now.”

“Does anybody else work here? Why do you need a manager?”

Keith shrugs noncommittally in response, before adding as an afterthought, “Coran’s got more going on than just the coffeeshop.”

“Oh did he end up getting his gold panning business to take off?”

Keith raised his eyebrows as he turned around to lance with both drinks in his hands. “You really know him, huh?”

“He talks a lot and like I said, I’m a regular.”

“Well, the gold panning was a bust. But he can’t spend his days underwater fishing in search of Megalodon if he’s also balancing the numbers for this shop.”

“That giant shark the Discovery channel always talks about during Shark Week?”

Keith nodded before turning around back to the machines, cleaning up the condensation that was bound to start dripping down. 

Lance started heading out with both drinks in hand, and was halfway out the door before he said, “Hey Keith. Keep it cooking, good-looking?” He shot Keith a wink before leaving the shop. He figured if his pickup lines weren’t going to work on Keith, might as well go all out. And the guy was hot; he deserved to know.

 

****

 

Once Lance arrived at Little Lions, he came in through the back so no parents would suspect he was late. Usually, around 8-8:30 is when most parents dropped off their kids anyway. He put down Hunk’s chai in their little kitchen, before taking a large gulp of his and putting it down as well. He hung up his coat and went to join Hunk with the kids. 

Lance loved his job. He really loved children, despite all the doubting looks people would give him when he said that. And the kids loved him back. They treated him like he was their big brother, and he did his best to make sure he was a good role model, though he’d be willing to admit that he slips up sometimes. 

As he walked into the room, Thomas and Sarah, two kids who have been at the daycare for two years now, ran up to him and immediately pulling on his arm to get his attention. He laughed and bent down to them. “What do you kids need?”

“We watched Tangled last time. Can’t we watch a new movie?”

“Yeah, I want to watch Cars 2! It’s my favorite! Lightning McQueen is so cool!”

Lance ruffled the top of Sarah’s head (Lance knows Thomas doesn’t like when people touch his hair) and stood up, heading over to Hunk. 

“Hey bro, chai’s in the kitchen. Also, the Thomas and Sarah want to watch Cars 2. Do you think you can switch them out?”

Hunk currently had little Anysia swinging from his arm, though he looks as if it was taking no exertion at all from his part. “Dude, you know how to use a DVD player. Don’t give me this.”

“I don’t know, Hunk. I mean, you are the studied engineer. I think it’s better you work with the technology.” Lance winked at his friend, pulling his leg. Even though Hunk got an engineering degree, he ended up feeling that he wanted a job that would have a stronger emotional component to it. He wanted to be able to connect with people, and Hunk had always loved being with kids. He tinkered with devices, occasionally building his own machines, but most of his free time was spent working with Pidge on her designs. He would follow the blueprints, and construct the hardware, while Pidge would program it and deal with all software issues. They made a pretty good team.

Hunk set down Anysia, asking her to give him a break and they could continue later. “Do you think you can let the movie play out once at least? We got a new kid and he really likes this movie.”

“A new kid?” Lance raised his eyebrows and looked over towards the pillow pit in front of the screen. It wasn’t very common for new kids to join this late in the year. Most kids start up in the end of August to mimic the school schedule, but they were only a week to October.

“Yup. Shiro’s nephew. Say hi. And we can change the movie once it finishes. Besides, you know Thomas is going to start singing once ‘I See the Light’ comes on.”

“And both parts too.” Lance smiled. He wasn’t about to deny the fact he does the exact same thing. 

Lance headed over to the small brown-haired kid and sat cross-legged next to him. He looked over with wide eyes, before quickly looking at the screen again, scared Rapunzel and Flynn will drown. 

“Hi, my name’s Lance. What’s yours, buddy?”

“Leo,” he answered quietly.

“Have you seen this movie before?”

“Yes.”

“Who’s your favorite character?”

“Pascal.”

“Yeah, he is really funny.”

Leo didn’t reply more after that, and Lance wasn’t really sure what to do. He didn’t want to push the kid-- it being his first day an all. But he also was surprised by his short responses. At his age, kids usually can speak in full sentences, so Lance assumed it was just because he was quiet. But usually kids loved gushing about their favorite character or scene. Even their favorite color usually led to a whole explanation why. Lance hummed, before deciding to giving him his space and heading to play with some of the other kids. 

He mentally ran through what the rest of the day would look like. They would probably have storytime today around 10, Pidge will stop by at some point before lunch to do a mini science experiment, and Lance would run the song circle around 3 or 4. Hunk was planning on baking a little bit with the kids, but he wasn’t sure if that was going to be today or later in the week. While scheduling, they tried to leave a lot of the time for the kids to play and relax on their own, so they could get closer among themselves, but it always helps for parents to hear that they do certain activities. 

Lance took a deep breath, before heading to the kitchen and taking another gulp of coffee. Lance loved his job, but he wasn’t going to deny it took a lot of energy. And knowing that he would be spending most of his day trying to get Leo to become part of the group, every bit of caffeine would help. 


	3. Chapter 3

The day picked up a few hours before lunch, once Pidge came and started talking to the kids. Pidge insisted that if you got kids to start thinking about how machines work, you’d get them more excited about learning in the future, as well as, it would sate their natural curiosity. Lance is pretty sure that her brother just recommended she worked here, though, and she had a lot of trouble turning down Matt. 

With Pidge always came a few moments to just sit down. Hunk and Lance usually ordered their lunch during that time, though it tended to be eaten in small bites running between the kids and kitchen, rather than as an actual meal. Lance was just glad that enough places would deliver to them that they had variety. Plus, on days like today, they had lasagna leftovers that were to die for. Not much stood up to Lance’s mom’s cooking, but this definitely did. He even got her to try Hunk & his lasagna, and she got seconds (and thirds, but she made him promise to pretend he didn’t see it). 

But with Pidge also came the teasing. She made Lance the butt of every joke, pranked him when she could, and all-in-all left the kids laughing at him. He didn’t necessarily mind- in fact he went along with it most of the time to get them laughing, but he didn’t expect the reaction he got out today. Especially out of such a quiet kid. 

Pidge was doing some kind of experiment with the kids. She had brought white vinegar and baking soda, and Lance rolled his eyes, knowing what she was about to do. Kids love this reaction and nothing else she does throughout the year is ever going to live up to this. Why she insisted on doing it so early on was beyond Lance.

She called Lance over and handed him one of the many plastic cups with a few spoons of vinegar she had laid out. “Hey Lance, you left some of your water over here. Take it.” Lance heard a few of the kids snicker in response, but it wasn’t anything he didn’t expect. He grabbed the cup and sniffed it once, before slapping hand over his nose. 

“I don’t think that’s water, Pidge. It smells nasty!”

“Maybe you should just taste it, Lance.” Lance shrugged in response, whilst internally cringing. This was always the worst part of this prank. Even if vinegar wouldn’t harm him, it was actually terrible. He tipped the glass back though, and downed it like a shot. Though vodka at least made him drunk.

He stuck out his tongue and squeezed his eyes shut, before shouting, “Yuck!” 

It was totally expected for the kids to laugh at this point. In fact, it would be kind of odd  if they didn’t. But Lance didn’t expect to see Leo to turn red in the face, holding a hand over his mouth as he struggled to catch his breath. It was such an odd mannerism for a four year old to have; they usually never try to restrain their laughs. And given how quiet the kid was before, he definitely did not expect the loudest reaction to come out of him. 

“Whoops, sorry Lance. I guess you were right,” Pidge shrugged before turning back to the kids and going on with her mini lesson. 

“So we have some important rules we are going to take from Lance’s mistake, right guys? What were some things Lance did wrong?”

Lance walked away as Pidge taught her science safety lesson, and headed towards the kitchen to eat something. He needed the taste of the vinegar out of his mouth. Hunk was in the kitchen, too, already starting to warm up the lasagna.

“Hey, Lance. Give me just a few more seconds and you can dig in.”

“Thanks, Hunk. Hey, do you know anything about our new kid? He seems a bit odd.”

“It’s Shiro’s brother’s kid. He finally convinced him to start bringing his son by, or something like that. Leo is shy to new people, but really energetic. Shiro’s gonna stop by today during the kid’s lunch hour.”

“Dang, how did I miss that much?”

“He only called this morning. Probably a last minute thing or something. You were out cold when I found all this out.”

“Hmm, so Shiro’s nephew, huh? I didn’t realize Shiro had any siblings.”

“Ask him about it during lunch if you want, Lance. I didn’t want to pry, but yeah, I was a little surprised, too.”

There wasn’t much time left until lunch at that point. As Pidge walked them through the vinegar and baking soda reaction, Lance sat near the doorway to the kitchen, watching to make sure nobody started working off the table or started creating too much of a mess. Luckily, he only had to step in once to prevent a mess. Then came clean up, which was always a bit of a hassle, but nothing too bad. Hunk was good with getting the kids to do as he asked and getting them all cleaned up quickly, so he usually took the lead on it. Lance, in the meantime, started cleaning their lunch table.

Once the kids were cleaned up, they all grabbed their lunch boxes and headed towards the table. Leo had a bright purple lunchbox which he brought to the table, but he stood there, looking out of place. Before Lance could ask him if he needed anything, Hunk seemed to have already read the situation. 

“Hey Leo, you wanna come sit next to me? I know Uncle Shiro isn’t here, yet, but I promise it’s just going to take him a few minutes.”

Leo smiled and nodded quickly, before quickly grabbing the seat to Hunk’s right. Lance sat between Anysia and Sarah in the middle of the table, as they both begged him to. What can he say? He’s a lady’s man. Pidge also sat down at the table, as she usually ate with them during her visits. 

Shiro let himself in only a few minutes into lunch, with Allura tagging along. When Leo spotted Shiro walking into the daycare, he shot out of his seat, almost spilling his juice box across the whole table had it not been for Hunk’s quick reflexes, and ran over to hug his uncle’s leg. 

“Uncle Shiro!”

“Hey, cowboy.” The man reached down to ruffle his nephew’s hair. “How’s your first day at daycare so far?”

Leo frowned, and his uncle squatted down to his level. “I miss Papa. Do I have to come here every day, Shiro?”

“Don’t worry, kiddo. You’ll see him soon enough. And, it’s really fun here. I promise.” Shiro stuck out his pinky for Leo to link with his own. Leo stared at Shiro for a second before finally agreeing to the promise. 

Shiro straightened up a bit, and pointed to Allura now. “This is my friend, Allura. She’s a teacher. Is it okay if she eats with us?”

Leo simply nodded quietly as he took his seat in front of his lunch box again. Hunk moved over so that Shiro and Allura could sit next to Leo. Allura seemed unsure how to start a conversation with Leo, but Leo was happy enough in Shiro’s presence that it didn’t seem to matter. 

By the end of lunch, Allura ended up taking Leo to go look at some pictures of constellations she had taken, a common interest between them that made Leo attached to the woman. As Shiro watched the two bonding with a fond smile on his face, Hunk decided to ask him the questions he’s been wondering.

“You made it sound like your brother was a single dad when you called on the phone. Why is Leo’s mom coming to pick him up?”

The older man scratched the back of his neck, not really wanting to discuss such an awkward topic. “He divorced his wife recently. But they have joint custody.”

“Ahh.”

“Keith really just wants the best for Leo. I mean, I can’t imagine anybody doesn’t. But he works too hard if you ask me.” 

“Most parents do. I mean, ideally kids could just be with their parents all day. But being able to provide the best for them means dropping their kids off at daycare.”

Shiro simply nodded, ready to drop the conversation and join his nephew and Allura, when Hunk decided to ask one more thing, a smirk across his face. “So, what’s the deal with Allura? Are you two dating yet?”

Shiro stuttered at first, before turning to face Hunk and crossing his arm with his prosthetic. “Hunk! Don’t be ridiculous; you are starting to sound like our students. We’re just friends. And besides, I’m the principal and she’s a teacher. It would be against school policy.”

“Ahh, but rules never stopped Romeo and Juliet.”

“Hunk, they both died in the end.”

The larger man shrugged in response. “But I see the way you look at her. And it’s not like the look is absent from her eyes either. I’m just saying. Would it really be better to have job security than it would to be happy?”

“It’s more complicated than that and you know that, too.”

“Ha! You didn’t deny it, though! You totally have feelings for Allura!”

Shiro rolled his eyes, deciding not to say anything as he walked away. He and Hunk, and really the whole group at the daycare, had become exceptionally close over the past couple of years and he knew it wouldn’t be necessary for him to ask Hunk to keep quiet. 

Looking over at Allura lifting Leo onto her lap as they flipped through pages of a book was all Shiro needed for right now. Nothing had to be official as long as they could spend time together just like this. 

****

It was about six o’clock and the daycare was already mostly empty. Shiro, Allura, and Pidge had all left hours ago, only really having a lunch break. Though the Little Lions was open until 6:30pm, most parents came immediately after work ended, leading to a rush of pickups a little after 5pm. 

Leo was currently the only one left, but both Lance and Hunk decided to leave him on his own as they started to tidy up the place. Lance wanted to try to get Leo to open up to him more, as it began to felt as if he was the only one who couldn’t connect with the kid. But he knew pushing it right now wouldn’t help. 

Finally, a blonde woman, probably in her early 20s walked through the door. Lance was staring at her, more confused than anything at first. Her midriff was completely exposed, despite the relatively chilly fall weather outside. And she didn’t even have a coat. How was she not shivering?

But she was pretty, there was no ring on her finger, and she was Lance’s age. “You’re the most beautiful girl in the world… and I ain’t  _ lion. _ ”

The woman hid her hands behind her face, acting shy. She giggled slightly. “I get it like, lion, as in the daycare.”

Lance nodded and raised an eyebrow. “So what’s your name, beautiful?”

She immediately dropped her hands and her face turned unamused. “Out of your league.” She rolled her eyes before turning to face Hunk instead, deciding she’s had enough of Lance. “I’m here to sign Leo out or something like that. I’m his mother, Nyma.”

Leo was sitting in the back corner of the room when he heard his mother’s voice. Lance urged him over to go grab his stuff and head over to his mom, as Hunk dealt with the details of Nyma picking up her son. 

“Can I sign something saying that I allow him to walk home or something?”

Hunk paused at that, giving Nyma a look. “Ma’am, he’s only four years old.”

“I only live a block down the road. Besides, I’m his parent, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course. Sorry.” Hunk rubbed his chin, trying to figure out what exactly to do. No parent has ever made a request like this before. “I can, I can get a form typed up for you by Monday that you can sign. That would give us permission to let him walk to your house if you’d like. But, and I think this would be a preferable option for both of us. One of us could walk him home at the end of each day.”

“I’d rather not impose. Please let’s just go with the first option.”

Hunk was about to say that it wouldn’t be a problem at all, but the look on her face made the words stuck in his throat. He just meekly nodded instead, and asked to check her license to finalize the normal paperwork saying she was his guardian and such.

Leo seemed reluctant to go, and tugged on to Lance’s pant leg as they headed towards the entrance. “Lance. Can I please stay here? A little bit longer?”

Lance smiled and bent down to him. “I know you’re having a lot of fun here buddy, but it’s time to go home. You can come back next week though! I promise we can keep having fun then.” Lance smiled to himself, glad to know that Leo did, in fact, like him, and that he didn’t want to leave. Mission success. 

Leo nodded quietly before heading to his mother’s side. They both waved bye to Leo as the two headed out, before Hunk turned to Lance.

“Something bothers me about Nyma.”

“Me too. I mean, do you see what she’s wearing? It’s cold as tits outside and she’s wearing summer clothes.”

“No, not about that Lance. I mean, about her as a parent.”

“Leo just likes the daycare, man. He didn’t want to leave. That’s normal.”

Hunk sighed. “Yeah, I guess. I still think we should ask Shiro to find out more about her.”

“Yeah, I wanna know why she plays so hard to get.”


	4. Chapter 4

The following day, Lance repeated his routine as usual. He had a bit more of a spring in his step as he walked into the coffee shop, knowing he’d be able to mess with the new cute barista. He was going to spend at least the rest of the week messing with Keith, unless he gave into Lance’s tactics first. 

He strutted into the store, leaning onto the counter, and winked at a surprised Keith. “The regular, hot stuff. And I’m not talking about the coffee.” Lance smirked, especially proud of the line as he had just come up with that one. 

“I’m new, if you haven’t noticed. Can you tell me what your regular order is?”

Lance was the one left surprised at this. He stood straight and blinked at the dark haired man, eyebrows furrowed. “What?” Lance gasped before continuing, “Wait, do you not remember me?”

“Am… Am I supposed to?”

Lance started gesturing with his arms, hazardously waving them around. “Lance? The regular? Buddies with Coran? Caramel Macchiato and Masala chai?”

“Okay, no problem, Lance. Coming right up.” Keith turned his back to the customer as he began to prepare the two cups. So he didn’t see Lance’s hanging open mouth and flabbergasted expression. He came in wanting to get under Keith’s skin a little more to find out that one, not only did he not get under Keith’s skin yesterday, but two, Keith was now under his. He scrunched his face in frustration. 

Under his breath, Lance groaned, “To think I flirted with you.” 

“A lot of people did yesterday. Apparently, college kids love fresh meat. No offense, but I only started this position yesterday. I’m not going to remember everyone.” Keith turned around and placed two cups on the counter in front of Lance, who scoffed in response. Lance was ready to start a feud because, sure maybe he was being a little petty, but for some reason this was pushing all the wrong buttons. 

“Yeah, next time I’ll have something memorable like a mullet, huh? The 80s called, dude, they want their look back.”

“Oh, I’ll keep that in mind. Next time I’ll make sure I have the facial expressions of a Dreamworks character.”

Lance gasped, and picked up both his drinks before heading towards the exit. Before leaving, he turned around again and said, “This means war, Mullet.”

“Whatever you say, Luke.”

“It’s Lance! Ugh!” 

****

Next Monday finally rolled around, and Keith was just happy that his week with Leo was starting again. He missed his son so much, and with each day apart he wondered if the divorce was worth it. Was he really happier now not being married to Nyma, even though this came with seeing less of his son?

However, Keith only managed to get five hours of sleep that night, as his freelance gig took a lot longer than expected. And that’s also why he was running late to the coffee shop today. And as if to set the mood, it was raining outside.

Keith scrambles out of his car the second he parks it, almost dropping his keys in the process, as he sees Lance waiting outside the door under the overhang, phone in hand. Lance looks up as he hears Keith run up to the door and puts his phone away. 

“About time, dude.”

“I am so sorry. I just- I promise it won’t happen again.” Keith was having more difficulty with the keys, only finally getting it inside the lock on his fourth try. He turns the key and lets Lance in first, before heading in after him. Keith quickly headed behind the counter and into the back where he threw his wet coat and grabbed his apron. He pulled his hair, which was now wet, into a ponytail so it wouldn’t cling to his face.

“I was worried I’d have to call Coran and rat on your ass or something. I need my daily dose of coffee.” Lance shook his lead a little bit, spraying some water in the coffee shop, but luckily not much as he had short hair. He hadn’t gotten much damage, parking right in front of the shop door, and he was under the awning anyway. 

Keith headed back to the front, hands behind his back to try to tie his apron as he walked towards the machines. He began to turn them on and running, before turning back to Lance. “Thank you for being patient. Just the regular, Lance?” 

Lance blinked for a second before nodding quietly. While Lance was definitely the one who instigated most of their back and forths, Keith usually wasn’t this nice to him either. It felt nice to have Keith say his name. For it to feel like they were friends, rather than the rivals Lance saw them as. Not to mention it allowed him to truly appreciate the sight that was Keith in a ponytail. 

The small smile on Lance’s face fell when he noticed the bags under Keith’s eyes. He looked awful. Sure, Lance knew from day one his skin care routine was not where it should be, but this was a whole different level of mess. 

“Keith, buddy, are you okay?”

Keith hummed in response, not turning around as he grabbed the milk from the fridge. 

“You look like you haven’t slept in weeks.”  
Keith turned around at that and looked at Lance, while rubbing a hand over his face. “That obvious, huh? I just, I only got like five hours of sleep the past two nights.”

“Dude, why? Are you bingeing a show or something, like why would you do that?”

“I wish. No, I have another job on nights. I do a lot of freelance editing, but recently I’ve gotten a more regular job working for some fan magazine. But apparently the authors only finish writing it by Saturday, and it needs to be perfect by Monday, which means a lot of cups of coffee and back and forth emails throughout the weekend trying to figure it out.”

“Oh, that sucks. I’m sorry to hear it. What’s the name of the magazine?”

“It’s called Voltron. Some reference to an old cartoon or something. To be completely honest, I’m not too positive about it.” Keith yawned again, as he turned back to finish up Lance’s order. 

“Oh, Defenders of the Universe? I used to watch reruns of that when I was younger.” Keith shrugged in response only, so Lance kept going. “But, you aren’t planning on doing this every weekend right? You’re gonna hit empty real quick if you do.”

“It’s only a biweekly thing, it’s on the weekends where I’m not with my son, and I need the cash. So I’m going to keep doing it. I appreciate the fact you care, but you don’t really know me, Lance. And all I know about you is that you like flirting, sugary coffees, and don’t like my hair.” Keith rested Lance’s drinks on the counter in front of him, and raises an eyebrow, testing him. 

“How do you know the chai isn’t for me?”

“You don’t exactly have a personality that screams chai.” Just as Lance was about to issue some retort, Keith added, “And, I mean, you just said earlier that you need your daily dose of coffee. Chai is just an Indian milk tea.”

“Damn,” Lance responded, dumbfounded. Keith was much more observant than he initially gave him credit for. As Keith began to ring up Lance’s order, he spoke up. “Can you add an extra medium coffee to that?”

“Oh? Okay, yeah, sure. How many creams and sugars?”

“I don’t know, what do you like?”

“Uh, I mean, I drink black coffee normally, but for most people that’s too bitter. Why are you asking me?”

“Dude, it’s for you.” Lance deadpanned.

Keith’s eyes shot open wide. “Oh no, Lance, I couldn’t. You really shouldn’t. I don’t-”

“Well, I am, and the customer is always right so just ring me up. Take this as a sign of solidarity. Maybe one day, we can know more than a few things about each other.” Lance shrugged nonchalantly as he paid for the three drinks, and started to head out. “But maybe I’m just being optimistic,” he added, before making it through the doors and running the short distance to his car. 

Leaving Keith staring after him, questions left to die on the tip of his tongue. 

****

“Oh, Coran, you’re here. Thank god.” 

“Don’t thank god. I mean I’m right here.” Coran twirled his moustache, a sly smile resting on his face.

Keith pulled off his apron before looking at Coran a bit more sincerely. “Thank you, Coran. It means a lot.”  _ For the change in the shift, for the position, for the increased pay, for helping me raise my son through all of this _ went unsaid. 

“Of course, --- . I mean, I’m more than happy to not have to be here for the 7-5 shift. I need to sleep off the late night pirate raids. And I quite literally mean I ran into some pirates last night. A tough group to bargain with Keith. Bring me along if you ever find yourself in that situation.” Coran stroked his chin, looking off at something. 

“Uh, yeah. Of course. Who knows when that kind of situation would just pop up?” Keith grabbed his car keys and were about to head out the door. 

“Oye, Keith!” his boss called after him. “Have you gotten the chance to meet the young fellow? He’s a regular, goes by the name of Lance.”

“Yeah, I’ve met him. He comes every day like, the second the shop opens.”

“He’s a good kid, too, Keith. You should get to know him.”

Keith looked down and thought back to his exchange with Lance earlier that day. “You know, I think I might do just that.”

As Keith jumped into his car, he had to do everything he could to keep himself from speeding. He was just so excited to see his son again. He had asked Nyma to let Leo set up her phone occasionally just to allow him to video chat with his son, but it must have slipped her mind, as he never got a chance to see Leo. And he didn’t want to bother Nyma with a video call just in case she was busy. But hopefully that will change next week. 

The little bell chimed as Keith opened the door, and he noticed one of two kids seated with Leo, playing with a box of legos. He smiles at Hunk and waves, before hearing a voice coming from another room, saying “I’ve got this one, Hunk.” 

Another man turned around the corner, throwing a small hand towel over his shoulder. Keith was frozen. The other man hadn’t noticed yet. He didn’t look up, yet. 

“Are you sure you hav-”

Lance’s mouth shut closed quick, stopping his line immediately as he realized it was Keith in front of him. Coffee shop Keith. Altean specialities Keith. (Kinda cute) Keith. 

Keith wanted to ask so many questions. But instead he settled for the usual - the back and forth quips that he and Lance always used. “No, no. Don’t let me interrupt you. What was the rest of that pick up line?” Keith crossed his arms, and raised his eyebrows at Lance, testing him.

But Lance wasn’t going to let Keith win this battle. No, he couldn’t give one to his rival. 

“Um, who are you?”

Keith tilted his head, looking at Lance. “Uh, Keith. From Altean Specialties.” Lance shook his head. “You bought me a coffee today?” Lance still looked dumbfounded. “I thought we had a bonding moment?”

“Must’ve been someone else, dude. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Keith was beyond frustrated. How did Lance not remember him? How did Coran vouch for this kid? “Lance, what the h-”

Before Keith could say anything, and probably for the better because there were children around, he felt a tug on his pant leg. He saw Leo silently looked up at him. Keith dropped the issue of Lance to devote all his attention to his son. He squatted down and ruffled his son’s hair. 

“Cheonsa!” Keith lifted him up and tossed him in the air slightly before catching him again and resting his son on his hip. “How are you? Do you like the daycare so far?”

“Pidge is really funny, Papa. And Hunk is going to let me bake cookies with him!” Keith smiled widely at his son. “Oh, and Lance is so silly! He drank vinegar last week, Papa. And today, he slipped on a banana peel.”

Keith looked over at Lance for a second, who seemed to be blushing. Keith’s surprise at that was tucked away for another second as his son began speaking again.

“Uncle Shiro has a girlfriend, Papa!”

“Oh? Is that right?”

Hunk decided to chime in at this point. “He’s stuck in denial. But if anyone can get the truth out of him and proceed to tease him for it, it’s his brother.”

Keith looked over at Hunk. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind. Leo, do you wanna go grab your stuff and say goodbye to your friends? Then we can leave. And guess what? Today is pizza night. The dough is waiting at home for you.”

Leo nodded rapidly, probably a bit too hard if Lance thought about it, and ran to grab his things. 

“I didn’t realize Leo was your kid. So that makes you Shiro’s brother then?”

“So you do remember me, then? You can’t forget a bonding moment like that. Even Coran wants us to be friends. But yeah, those two are family. And does this mean I’m not going to hear the rest of your pickup line then?”

Hunk walked over and didn’t give Lance a chance to respond. “He uses that one all the time, I can tell you it.” Then putting on his best Lance impression, which Keith wouldn’t call half bad, “‘Are you sure you have a kid here, cause I’m pretty sure I should be calling you baby?’ Pretty cringeworthy, huh?”

Keith snickered and shook his head. “Well, it definitely sounds like something Lance would say.”

Hunk nodded at that, and Lance just crossed his arms and grunted. His lines worked like half the time anyway, so they had no right to judge. Keith and Nyma were the only two people he’s met so far who genuinely seemed turned off by them. And he was certain he could get one of them to come around. 

“Hey, can I ask you two something? How has Leo been getting along with the other kids? He’s a bit asocial, and I’m just worried about him. He hasn’t had many opportunities to really get along with other kids.”

Hunk patted Keith on the back. “I wouldn’t worry about anything. He hasn’t been the most social kid, yet, but he’s only been here a week. Plus, it’s not like he’s getting in fights, so in our eyes, he’s an angel kid.”

“Funny you say that, cause cheonsa actually means angel.”

“You nicknamed him right then. But, bro, don’t worry. I have a bunch of younger siblings. There is no need to worry about socializing for them until Kindergartens. Most kids just like to explore on their own when they’re this young. It’s fine,” Lance chimed in. 

Keith smiled at the two of them and thanked them. He bent down to Leo, who had somehow put on his jacket inside out, and helped him out before saying goodbye again and leaving. 

“Wait, so that’s the cute barista you’ve been talking about?”

Lance’s face flushed red as he shot Hunk a look. “Shut. It.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When your internet is terrible at college, so you constantly have to wait or go to the library to work on your fic... 
> 
> In other news though, welp, this chapter is like an extra 6-700 words longer than usual, but I couldn't stop myself. I just needed the boys to flirt, so the ending ended up changing and got a bunch longer, but I hope you guys like it!
> 
> Only a couple chapters until Halloween, and I am pumped! (Read: everyone in costumes. Read: New fanart Read: Halloween is always lit af)


	5. Chapter 5

“Shiro, I don’t get why you want me to come hang out with you guys so bad. Besides, this is my weekend with Leo, so I want to spend as much time with him as possible.” Leo was just finishing up lunch at this point, probably shoving his chicken nuggets into his face way too quickly. Keith looked at him and made exaggerated chewing motions, and was only partially successful in getting Leo to slow down. Thank god Leo still asked him to cut everything into small pieces.

“Then bring him along, it’s not like we’re drinking or anything. Now that you’ve been introduced to my friends at work, I thought it might be nice for you to get to know them a bit better. I mean, they are responsible for your kid after all.”

“I trust them, isn’t that enough? Why do I have to hang out with them, too? Wait… is this part of your whole ‘make friends’ scheme? I’m not lonely, Shiro. Between work and Leo my schedule is filled enough, and you and Leo are all I need. And you might be knocked off the list if you keep acting like this.”

Shiro sighed on the other side of the line, and Keith could picture him rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I’ll let you meet Allura.”

A smile quickly covered Keith’s face as his phone immediately switched tones. “Oh, I finally get the honor of meeting your girlfriend?”

“We aren’t dating. But yes.”

“Yet. You aren’t dating yet.”

“We aren’t allowed to date, Keith. There are policies in place.”

“And you know I don’t believe in rules.”

“Yes, I know, Mr. I almost got kicked out of high school twice and barely got enough credits to graduate.”

“Oh shut up, I did it. But yes, we will be there. What time do you want us to be there, Shiro?” Leo’s eyes

“In an hour or so? My place?”

“Yeah, sure. Leo wants to talk to you, I’m giving him the phone.” Leo started mumbling through his food while trying to talk into his phone. Keith took the phone back until Leo finished chewing and swallowing, and picked him up and put him on his hip so Keith could leave the room momentarily. He handed Leo back the phone who immediately started babbling to Shiro. Keith then quickly finished up his own lunch before starting to pack up all of Leo’s things for their trip to Shiro’s. While Shiro’s apartment had more than enough of Leo’s toys there, he always felt better knowing he packed a dinner for Leo, a change of clothes, and anything else he could think to pack. Shiro always teased him for being a over-the-top, but at least he was always prepared when it came to his son.

Keith set his son down on the bed once they reached the bedroom so he could start packing, but Leo immediately climbed off the bed to lay on the floor.

“Uncle Shiro, stop being silly. Just cause I’m eating chicken nuggies, doesn’t mean I’m going to turn into a chicken,” Leo giggled.

Keith dropped the bag he was holding before laying on the floor next to his son. “Cheonsa, why do you want to lay on the floor like this? It’s dirty. And the view isn’t any better.” Keith scrunched his face slightly and stuck out his tongue.

“Because then I can’t fall, Papa. And Uncle Shiro was making me laugh.” Keith raised his eyebrow at his son. He sounded so wise, but it’s not like he was really at risk of falling on the bed, unless he started rolling around. And Leo was currently still.

“Did Uncle Shiro tell you what we’re doing today?” Leo nodded his head excitedly. Keith could hear talking coming from the phone, but it was muffled. “Well, the quicker you help me pack, the quicker we get to go. Tell Uncle Shiro ‘bye,’ because we’ll be there really soon. What do you want to bring?”

Leo pouted, before giving in and saying goodbye to his uncle and handing the phone back to Keith. Between Keith and Leo, they were able to get all their things together, though Leo really just stayed on the floor and said what he wanted, instead of getting up to grab it. Keith rolled his eyes every time, but he spoiled his son too much to actually scold him and tell him to get up and get it himself.

Right as they were about to head out of their apartment, Leo immediately ran back into his bedroom, screaming something. Keith waited for him to come back, and he did holding his little sheriff’s costume from last Halloween.

“Papa, there’s a dress up day. But I don’t want to ruin the surprise of my costume this year. Can I just wear this again?”

“When is it, Leo? Do you want me and Uncle Shiro there?”

“Papa! You can come!” Leo was radiating.

“I’ll have to ask, but I’m going to try, cheonsa.” Leo ran up to Keith and hugged his leg tightly.

****

By the time they arrived at Shiro’s apartment, Hunk and Allura were already there. Leo ran in before Keith even opened the door fully. Keith came in slower and closed the door behind him. By the time he got to the living room, where everyone else was, Leo was already trying to climb on top of Shiro’s shoulders as Allura and Hunk laughed.

Keith awkwardly waved to the group as he sat on the couch Shiro was on, across from Hunk.

“Hey dude! We are just wrapping up some weird curriculum planning and stuff; we were hoping to get it done before you got here, but afterwards we can all hang out,” Hunk greeted.

“No problem, don’t let me bother you guys.”

“Actually, Hunk, I was just about done. If you can just start introducing a bit more letter work while they’re in the daycare, those kids will be more on par with the preschool kids when they reach kindergarten.” Keith knew Allura was a teacher, but he could have sworn she taught fourth or fifth grade, not Kindergarten.

“That’s easy enough. I’ll talk to Lance, but we can most-likely start it later this week itself. Things are a bit jumbled just because of the Open House on the 28th.”

“Oh Keith! You know about that, right? Open house on the Friday before Halloween. It’s a costume day,” Shiro piped up, bringing his attention back to the conversation instead of playing with his nephew.

“I told Papa already! He said he would come!”

“I said I would ask. I have to see if Coran will let me off work to come, especially since I already asked to leave an hour early on Halloween.”

“Wait! You’re the Keith that works for Coran?” Allura was now on the edge of her seat, leaning towards the father.

“Yeah? How do you know Coran? Are you one of his weird adventure buddies?”

“He’s my uncle. We’re very close. He talks about you all the time. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a bit.”

“Really? Cause all I ever hear about is his weird escapades harpooning in the Mediterranean and getting chased by a mother grizzly.”

“Oh, I was there for the bear one. I told him not to pick up the cub. He just couldn’t stop himself though.”

“Sounds like Coran, to be honest. And oh, I meant to ask. Is Lance just coming late or...” Keith trailed off.

“Lance isn’t going to come today, because he wants to spend time with his sister,” Hunk replied.  
“Oh, shoot. Allura and I actually need to leave soon. We said we’d pick up Pidge after her class today.”

“Pidge? And who takes classes on Saturday?”

“She said she’d rather have classes on the weekend than ever wake up before 11, so yeah, she has a two hour class every Saturday. Somehow Sundays are still a free day though. I don’t know how she was able to manipulate her schedule so she was able to do that. I wouldn’t be surprised if she just hacked into the system and changed it around herself.” Hunk chuckled.

“Pidge also works at Little Lions, right?”

“Ehh, work probably isn’t the right term. She comes in for like a hour most days, and just mini experiments with the kids. She’s an undergrad right now, though. She studies ECE- electrical and computer engineering.”

“Oh, wow, damn. That’s neat.”

“Papa, Pidge is the one who made Lance drink vinegar.”

Shiro pulled Leo off his shoulders, and put him on the couch. “This cowboy has to say goodbye to his pardner for now. I have to go get Pidge, and then we can play, okay bud?” Keith rolled his eyes. Shiro loved making sure people didn’t forget they were from Texas.

“Can I go with you to pick up Pidge, Uncle Shiro?”

Shiro looked over at Keith, who tossed his brother his keys. “You can just take my car so you don’t have to move the car seat.”

“I’d rather not have the only music options be MCR. I’ll just move it back when we bring Pidge back. See you two in like twenty.”

Leo jumped up and down as he realized that he could ride with Shiro and Allura, and held Allura’s hand as they headed out of the apartment.

“Hey, I know we don’t know each other that much, but can I ask you something, Keith?” Alarm bells rang off in his head, but Keith still nodded in response. “Have you thought about trying to gain full custody of Leo?”

“Huh? I mean, not really. I don’t want to keep him from seeing his mother. That doesn’t feel right.”

Hunk scratched the back of his neck. “I mean I know it’s a hard decision, but I every time Leo gets picked up by you, he just lights up so much more than when Nyma gets him.”

“Nyma is just busier, I think. I was able to get my hours to switch to align with when Leo is at the daycare, but I don’t think Nyma was as fortunate. Besides, it’s not like I’d realistically even gain custody if I fought for it. Mothers almost always win in those cases.”

Hunk shrugged. “Yeah I mean, I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. I just think it might be something to consider. Being raised by one parent isn’t a bad thing. I mean, my mom was single and she raised me. And I’d like to think I actually turned out better for it, than had she tried to force someone else to say in our life. And I mean Lance can testify that, no matter how much parents may try, you can’t make sure everything goes perfectly in your kids’ lives.”

“What happened with Lance?” Keith couldn’t stop the question from coming out before he thought through how personal the question he was asking was.

“It’s really not my place to say. It’s just- it’s easy to write him off as a comedic character or a flirt. But there’s a lot more too him. And he really is a great guy. I wouldn’t be roommates with him if that weren’t true.”

Keith sat silently after that, taking it all in. He definitely dismissed Lance when they first met, but after Lance bought him that coffee, after they had their bonding moment, Keith just wanted to learn more about him. He wanted to get closer to him.

“So what are you and Leo planning on dressing up as for the Halloween Party?”

“Oh! That actually reminds me. Leo doesn’t want to wear our costumes for this Halloween before that night, because he thinks it’s bad or something, so I need to adjust his from last year. You wouldn’t happen to be good at sewing would you?”

“No, but Lance is a pro. Do you want me to bring it back for him to work on?”

“Oh, no. That’s okay. I don’t want to trouble him.”

“He wouldn’t mind at all. Here, hand it to me.”

Keith reached over to his bag and shuffled through it until he found what he was looking for. “We’ve done matching costumes for pretty much every Halloween so far. This one Shiro was in on, so I have to make sure he wears his part.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, but you’d have to convince Allura. Apparently, they’re doing a pair costume this year.”

“They’re going trick or treating?”

“Well, Shiro said it was tradition that they would always go with you two, and he convinced Allura to go with you. I’m going with Lance and Pidge, but maybe I’ll see you around.”

“Do any of you guys have kids?”

“Nah, but Lance says we would be absolutely crazy if we didn’t take advantage of getting free candy. Not that I’m complaining. And we go with Lance’s niece so it’s not as weird.”

“Well I mean, go to the store the day after Halloween or Valentine’s if you ever want extremely cheap chocolate. They always overstock.”

“You and Lance would get along amazingly. Wow.” And Keith couldn’t help but think that he hoped so. Maybe Shiro was right. Having friends to hang out with wasn’t overrated at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know what you're thinking ??? We get two sets of dorks in costumes?? Yes, cause I'm a hoe and I love Halloween.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am super sorry I didn't get a chance to post last Saturday. I was flying home that weekend, and due to a snow storm that hit, all my plans and scheduling was thrown off. But!!! This chapter is almost 1k words longer than normal, and more klance bonding, so I hope it makes up for it a little bit. Hope you enjoy!

Lance was so ready for today: Halloween day at the daycare. He just loved wearing costumes. Who could pass up the chance to step into another skin for a day? A 24 hour pass to be someone else. Halloween was Lance’s favorite holiday by far, and the daycare meant he could dress up twice. Plus, kids always shared his level of enthusiasm for the day.

Though the doors were open for parents to stay with their kids during the celebrations, it wasn’t super common. Only a handful really did. And of those, most didn’t wear full costumes. So, when he saw Leo and his father in tow, he was a bit taken aback.

While he knew Leo was dressing up as a little sheriff, having spent time working on adjusting the little guy’s costume, he underestimated just how cute Leo would look in the get-up. Leo eyes twinkled brightly, brighter than the reflection off his gold “Sheriff” pin. He was in brown and cow-printed vest with a red and black flannel underneath, and wore a pair of dark blue jeans and brown boots that complimented the vest. Fake spurs were added to the side of his boots, and he couldn’t help chuckle at the fact that Keith probably spent at least an hour trying to find a way to make them able to spin and look sharp, though they were foam. But best of all, in Lance’s opinion, was the all-too-big cowboy hat resting on Leo’s head. When he looked up to wave to Hunk, it toppled back, barely staying on him. And it made him look all the smaller, and especially cuter.

And behind him, was Keith. He was dressed up, too. And to make it worse, they were  _ themed.  _ And it was way too much for Lance’s to handle. While Lance couldn’t imagine having a kid in his near future, this was exactly what he would do.

He was wearing a matching cowboy hat, though it looked a bit more worn. A handkerchief that matched Leo’s shirt was wrapped around, hiding the lower half of his face, making him look more hidden and serious than usual. He had a black button down on with his sleeves rolled up to his elbow (which, though Lance would never admit, made him look hot as hell) underneath a similar vest as Leo’s, though it had fringe hanging off the bottom. His jeans were light washed, and he had leather boots that ended just under his knees. On Keith’s belt rested a mini holster, though he left his phone in there as opposed to an actual firearm.

To say Keith and Leo were complimentary would be an understatement. Keith and Leo fit so perfectly together. Not that Lance was just going to come out and compliment Keith.

“I thought today was Nyma’s day with Leo.” While Lance was definitely not about to complain about seeing Keith all dressed up, he was hoping that Nyma would come in a sexy costume of her own. And he was looking forward to that. Though he should’ve realized Keith would be coming when it was Coran, not him, running the coffee shop today.

"I asked if I could take him today. Leo didn’t think the group costume would be complete if I wasn’t here with Shiro.”

“Wait, Shiro’s in on this, too? This is going to be amazing.”

“You and Hunk are in group costumes together, too, I presume?”

“Yup, I love group costumes. It makes Halloween like a hundred times better. I mean, as you can tell, I’m the scarecrow, Hunk is the cowardly lion, and whenever Pidge shows up, she’s the tin man.”

Keith gave Lance a subtle look-over. There was no way he could ignore how Lance looked in his costume—he went all out with face paints and the works—but there was more to it than that. Through the layers of makeup, he was glowing. He looked so excited, and it was contagious. But all Keith managed to say was, “I don’t think I could’ve ignored the fact you’re the scarecrow, giving that you’re literally getting straw everywhere, Mr. I Need a Brain.”

“You’re not the one who cleans this place up, so I don’t see why you’re complaining.”

“Well, both your costumes look really good. I’m impressed.” Keith said as Hunk walked over to them. “Um, if I’m staying here for today, is there anything I should be doing or... “

“Well, you can just hang out with Leo if you would like, or you can let him do his thing and hang back with us. Not too many parents come today, just ‘cause it’s not exactly a work holiday, but you can meet them, too.”

Before Keith replied, Leo was tugging at his jeans. “Papa, I wanna show you this book I found.” And started walking towards the small shelf on the side of the room. Keith shrugged and looked back at the two of them. “I guess it’s already decided then.”

Lance watched as Keith followed his son and flipped through the book he was handed. Leo excitedly pointed and some drawings and such before asking his dad to read the book to him. Lance chuckled, remembering when he asked Hunk to do the same thing a few days prior. He loved the art apparently.

“At the far end of town where the Grickle grass grows...” Keith began. He was seated cross-legged, with Leo in his lap. Leo looked over each page with his eyes wide, and Keith always waited until he was ready to turn the page. It was a really cute scene and Lance couldn’t tear his eyes away from their cute father-son bonding.

Lance finally tore his eyes way when he heard someone clearing his throat next to him. He looked over to see Pidge giving him a very pointed look. “Entranced much?”

“Shut up. It’s just cute to see the parents bond with their kids.”

“Then why aren’t you staring at Susan or Gregg? They’re both bonding with their kids.” Lance shot Pidge a look, hoping it would get her to drop it. But Pidge rarely does what someone wants. “Seems to me like someone is a bit hung up over the country boy. Maybe it’s just the cowboy look, but I didn’t think you had a thing for country boys, Lance. What happened to ‘you’d let Beyoncé kill you before listening to country’?

“I’d let her kill me, period, if she asked. And I do  _ not _ have a thing for country boys.”

Pidge just winked, and replied with a drawn out “Sure.”

“Makes sense why you’re the tin man. You’re heartless.”

“You got me there.” Pidge quickly got into a conversation with Hunk about setting up some kind of projection for the kids, so Lance joined Sarah, who was dressed up as Chat Noir (a character from her favorite cartoon), and Anysia, who was dressed as a monkey, who were playing with a race track and toy cars in the middle of the room. The second Anysia saw him sit down, she climbing on his shoulders to sit on them. She giggled as she started joking about how tall she was and how Lance was her chair. And every time Lance hears one of the kids giggle, his heart feels lighter.  _ That’s why I work here. _

Shiro came over with Allura not too long after, and Leo jumped up from Keith’s lap to see his uncle. Sarah even got up from next to Lance to greet Shiro and Allura, as they were quickly becoming more and more of staples to their little daycare crew. Lance wondered if this was their only off period that they were giving up, and if so, he would have to thank them or something. Though in all honesty, he’d probably get Hunk to do it, while he made some joke. But that was just what he did.

Lance hadn’t looked over to see Shiro, since his voice was enough to identify him. Until he heard him moo. And Lance looked around so fast, Anysia wrapped her body around the crown of his head.

“Sorry Anysia.”

“No, that was fun! Do it again!”

“Maybe in a second. If I do it too much, we are both going to get really dizzy. Can you hold on for a second so I can stand up?” He felt the Anysia nod, so he slowly brought himself up, though her long, black hair got in his face while doing so. How did a four-year-old even grow their hair this long anyway? He walked the length of the room, before putting her down so she could continue playing as he talked to the newcomers.

“Okay, Shiro. You know I have to ask.”

“Every cowboy has a cow!” Leo replied cheerily. Lance looked over at Keith, who just joined the group, for some semblance of an actual explanation, because didn’t cowboys ride horses? And that still didn’t feel like enough justification for the fact that Shiro was in front of him in a cow onesie and a pink-painted nose. At least his hair went with the look though.

“Well, Shiro calls Leo his little cowboy, as I’m sure you’ve heard. So Leo used to say that would make Shiro the cow. We tried to explain to him once that cowboys don’t actually ride cows, but when he asked why they were called that then, Shiro and I both didn’t have an actual answer. Hence, the cowboy and his cow.

“But since Leo is always the cowboy, he wanted to be something different for Halloween when we all decided on this theme. So he said he would be the sheriff instead, which was something Shiro calls me whenever I came in to put Leo to bed or you know,  _ actually _ parent him. Now we have Leo as a sheriff, me as a cowboy, and Shiro as his standard cow.”

Lance just tilted his head and blinked a few times at the family in front of him. I mean, it was cute, but he still felt like he had more questions. But all he could vocalize was, “How did the cowboy thing start?”

Keith looked away and pointedly ignored the question. He picked up his son, and put him on Shiro’s pack, as he was trying to climb Shiro a second ago. But Lance wasn’t going to give up easily. He looked at Shiro, silently pleading for an answer.

“Keith, something you’re embarrassed of?” Shiro raised his eyebrows at his brother, a shit-eating grin resting on his face. No other term could possibly fit the expression he had, and Lance knew he was about to get something good.

“No, I’m no- It’s just- He’ll make a big deal out of it. I mean, look at him.” Before Lance could even ask the prying question, Pidge spoke up from behind Lance.

“Keith is from Texas.” And then with a smirk of her own, she locked eyes with Keith. “Good luck buddy.” Allura, Pidge, and Hunk had all found this out the other day when they were hanging out, and Keith was glad Lance wasn’t there for that moment. But he should’ve known he’d find out soon enough. 

“Wait, what? Really? Oh my god. Do you say y’all? Ain’t? This is too much. Speak Texan to me, Keith.”

“Lance, we’ve known each other for a while now? You should know I don’t speak like that. I was only born in Texas. When Shiro’s family adopted me, I was like 3 and they only lived there for a year or two before moving, since his dad was in the coast guard.”

Hunk chimed in before anyone else could, from the corner where he was working on getting a remote to work. “Wait? You guys aren’t actually brothers.”

“I mean, we pretty much are. I don’t think I have a memory from before I knew Shiro.”

“Shiro, I need you to be honest with me. Has Keith every said y’all?”

“He went through a phase when he was ten when we moved to South Carolina when he would say y’aint a lot. I think that was his introduction to being rebellious. And that’s where me calling him cowboy started. And it just seemed right to pass the title on to this little guy once he was born.” Shiro bounced his shoulders up and down a bit at mention of Leo, which caused him to emit a giggle. 

Lance was about to outwardly mock Keith, when Pidge lightly kicked him in the shin before speaking up. “Allura, I like your costume. Princess Leia fits you. Regal, but ready to kick as- butt. I mean, butt.” Shiro shot Pidge a look for her slip up, but it doesn’t seem like any of the children took notice. 

“You can’t be a princess if you can’t bench press your best soldier,” Allura added jokingly, ignoring Pidge’s slip. “And tomorrow Shiro is going to be Han Solo with me.”

“I’m hurt. Allura, why wouldn’t you ask me? You don’t need to go to a galaxy far far away to find me.”

“Lance, you’re already stuck with us. Sorry you aren’t going to get a chance to hit on Allura, but you made a deal.”

“I mean, not like it’s worth it, with all the eyes these two give each other.”

“Lance!” Shiro and Allura spoke in unison, blushing. 

“Hey guys,” Hunk interrupted. “I got it all set up. Pidge and I were able to set up a planetarium-style overhead projection, so we were going to do constellations today. So if everyone just lays on their backs and looks up, we’ll have the projection running in a few. Lance, could you get the lights?”

Lance was already moving to do so, hitting the switches, and pulling down the blinds for good measure. He knew Hunk and Pidge had been working on this, but he didn’t realize they finished so quickly. Not that it really surprised him. He didn’t doubt his best friends. 

Lance lied down in the side of the room, near Thomas, who was dressed up as the train that shared his name, when Keith sat down and laid down next to him. Lance raised an eyebrow at him, so he pointed over to Leo, who was thoroughly distracted by the way Allura’s hair spread out against the floor. He shrugged and whispered, “It’d be good for him to get closer to her. Besides, my brother’s there.”

Lance looked back at the projection, which was properly loading now. Pidge and Hunk didn’t talk much about the stars, though they did prompt the kids to find shapes in them, and explained that’s what constellations are, before showing them the famous ones. Lance looked around the room, and all of the kids had their eyes glued to the ceiling. 

Once Lance knew the children were fine, he allowed himself to get drawn in by the stars. The way they shone down and seemed to hypnotize you. They glinted as if they knew something he didn’t. As a kid, he would lay on his back like this all the time back home in Cuba, and just reach up. He’d try to grab the stars and pull them. Keep them in a jar the way kids kept fireflies. 

“In another life, I would’ve been an astronaut. Everything pales to the idea of getting to spend my days among them.”

Lance glanced over at Keith, who’s eyes reflected the stars in the dark. He realizes what Keith means by another life.  _ If I hadn’t had Leo.  _ Lance knew Keith must have been in his late teens when he had Leo. A high school graduate, maybe. He loved his son, Lance never doubted that once, but the look in Keith’s eyes right now. He must have given up so much for Leo to have the life he does. He sacrificed his dream for his son. And Lance was in awe.

Keith finally ripped his eyes from the ceiling to look directly at Lance now. “What about you? I can see the look in your eyes. Did you want to be an astronaut, too?”

“I- They remind me of home. The stars always felt like they held a promise of something better. I didn’t have the best childhood, I guess, but I always knew the stars would be there for me if I looked up. Even during the day, they were there. A silent support system. I know, it’s cheesy.” Lance shrugged towards the end, keeping his eyes towards the ceiling to avoid tearing up at all. The last thing he wanted was for Keith to see him cry.

“Is this your something better? This life?”

Lance never really thought about that. He did love working at the daycare, he loved spending time with Hunk and Pidge, and now Shiro and Allura. Even Coran was always there to cheer him up and lend an ear. And maybe, if Lance was being honest with himself, Keith was becoming a part of this, too. 

But that doesn’t change what happened. And his makeshift family would never fix his real one.

“It’s better than I thought I’d get.” Lance settled with. 

“Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is actual Halloween!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prepare to be Shook

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spanish Translations:  
> "Uncle Lance, please. I want to go to that street."  
> "It's not my fault that you're dumb."  
> "Lance, don't say that word! God. Sofia is here."

“Tío Lance, por favor,” Sofia tugged on the pants of his costume, causing some straw to fall out. “Quiero ir a esa calle.” She pointed a distance away, and looked up to Lance with pleading eyes. 

“You heard the girl. Let’s go to Main Street. They’re gonna have better candy.”

“I mean, we didn’t, cause you know, we don’t speak Spanish, but that’s cool,” Pidge replied, still following Lance, Hunk at her side. Hell if she’s not going to chase the good candy.

“No es mi culpa que seas tonta,” Lance mocked, but before he could be proud of his comeback, or deal with Pidge asking what he said, he heard his sister scold him.

“¡Lance, no digas esa palabra! Por dios. Sofia esta aquí.”

“Sorry, I mean, I was just telling Pidge she should’ve taken Spanish in high school instead of French. I mean, really Pidge?”

“Even with four years of high school Spanish, Lance, I’m still a bit lost half the time you speak. Don’t blame Pidge for that,” Hunk added in. 

“Still, she betrayed us.”

“How would I know I’d end up close friends with a Cuban American three years older than me cause we work at a daycare together? I’m trying to get into NASA; this wasn’t exactly an expected detour.”

“And look at us now, the three musketeers.” Lance fell back between his two closest friends and pulled them into an uncomfortable tight side hug, given their height differences. 

“No, we’re the scarecrow, the tin man, and cowardly lion, but good job remembering.”

“Ana, if you don’t mind me asking, because I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything, but I have to ask about your costume.” Lance smiled at Hunk. He was always willing to take a step to make everyone feel comfortable, even if he was a bit shy. And Lance admired that about him. He wished he had the first impression vibe that Hunk always gave off.

“Yeah, why did you choose Shrek of all things?” Pidge deadpanned, not trying to beat around the bush at all. 

“Well, Lance and I got into a bet. Loser would have to dress up as Shrek, since we saw this costume while shopping and both flipped. He really believed in himself because this was already after he agreed to go with you two.”

“What was the bet over?”

“Well, it had to fit the theme of memes, so whoever could list more songs in the Shrek movies. I should’ve known Lance spends way more time obsessing over memes than I do and it would be a losing battle.”

“You didn’t have a chance! How could you forget I need a hero from Shrek 2?”

“What? That’s like the most iconic song from all of the Shrek movies!” Pidge added, giving Ana a look. 

“Look, I’m old now. I don’t spend my days watching the Bee Movie and tagging people in memes.”

“Please, you’re only a year older than Hunk and two than me. Don’t be like this.”

“Well, then-” Lance cut off his sister, arm quickly pointing towards a group of a few people, almost smacking Hunk in the face. 

“Guys, look!”

“Who is that?” Ana asked.

“Oh, would you look at that? Ana, that’s Shiro, our friend who’s technically our boss, and Allura, another friend and teacher at the school that heads the daycare,” Hunk smiled, since the two of them looked like they were having a nice time, even with their obviously tinted cheeks.

“Aka the girl he’s too scared to ask out even though they’re both so obvious with their feelings.” Pidge was going to make sure even Ana teased Shiro for it. Maybe it would finally pressure them into doing something.

“No, not them. I mean, yeah, Shiro’s Han Solo costume is cool, but look at who’s with them.” Standing next to Shiro and Allura was a person in a dark cape, though he was angled away from the group, so he couldn’t see their face. But sitting on their hip was Leo, who was currently looking in their direction. He was in a giant jack-o-lantern costume, and if Lance thought he looked cute yesterday, he was absolutely adorable today.

“It must be Nyma with Leo today, since Keith did Halloween at the daycare party. You guys wait here. Nyma’s playing a bit hard to get, but I know she’s into this.”

“Lance-” Hunk and Pidge both started, but he already was walking away. He tapped Nyma on the shoulder, and as she started to turn, Lance threw out his go-to line.

“Is your name Google? Because you have everything I’m searchi-”

He abruptly came to a stop, eyes wide, when she turned around. Or rather he. Standing in front of him was Keith, eyebrows raised, clearly amused. He could hear Pidge and Hunk laughing behind him. 

“Do you always start with that line, Lance? I would think you’d at least do something Halloween themed for today.”

“Oh- Shut up! I thought you were Nyma.”

“Oh.” 

Keith’s face seemed to fall a bit, but he was quickly distracted by his son wriggling in his arms. “Papa, look! It’s Hunk and Pidge.”

Keith put Leo down so he could run over to them, and was beginning to follow him when Lance called after him.

“Wait! Keith! That means you remember!”

“Hmm?” Keith watched to make sure Leo reached Hunk before turning to look at Lance.

“You said you didn’t remember me flirting the first day I met you. You said a bunch of people flirted with you so I was nothing special.”

Keith shrugged for a second and was beginning to turn when he decided it was time Lance got a taste of his own medicine. He looked over at Lance and bit his lip slightly, before saying, in the most flirtatious voice he could manage, “I never said you weren’t something special.” 

Lance immediately flushed. He felt as though his face was just thrown into a sauna. But Keith just laughed at him a bit before heading towards his son. “Don’t dish what you can’t take,” he called over his shoulder. Lance wanted to be upset at Keith, but he needed to calm down first. As much as he flirted with other people (Allura and Pidge’s complaints never stop), he wasn’t used to it being reciprocated. And especially not with the look Keith just gave him. 

Shiro patted Lance on the shoulder as he and Allura passed him to join the rest of the group. Lance took a deep breath before turning around and walking with them, so he could pretend Keith didn’t affected him  _ that _ much. 

Leo was standing next to Sofia and rocked on his feet a bit. Sofia was babbling at him, but he seemed interested. Keith was watching them fondly while listening to Shiro and Allura introduce themselves to Ana. 

“And you must be Keith then?”

Keith looked up at the mention of his name towards Lance’s sister. It slipped his mind that he should introduce himself to her, but it seems as though it was unnecessary. He stuck out his hand towards her and smiled.

“Yes, that’s me. And it seems Leo is already getting to know your daughter, I assume?”

“Yeah, that’s Sofia. I’m glad they’re getting along. And I’m glad to meet you, too. Lance visited the other day, and he was talking about yo-”

Lance arrived just in time to cut off Ana, shooting her a look. “Your dumb mullet. That’s what I was telling her about. I mean, in this day and age. I can’t believe it.”

Keith decided to ignore Lance and continuing talking to Ana. She seemed really nice, and just easier to interact with than her brother. “So I’m not going to ask about the Shrek thing, because, quite frankly, I feel like I don’t want to know. But did Sofia want to dress up as Dorothy, or did Lance drag her into the group costume.” 

“She inspired Lance to choose that as their group costume, because he knew they’d be trick or treating with her. He actually bought her the shoes.” Sofia smiled up at Keith at that point and tapped her feet few times, a huge smile on her face. Leo giggled next to her, and Keith felt proud. Leo was getting along with her. “And what are you dressed up as?”

“It’s me, too!”

Keith reached down and picked up Leo who was putting his arms up, and put him on his shoulders. “We’re the headless horseman. Leo’s the head, and I’m the body.”

“That explains the horse head on a stick you’ve been carrying,” Lance piped in. 

Keith rolled his eyes before addressing his son. “You wanna keep trick-or-treating, Leo?”

“I wanna go with Sofia!”

Keith was shocked to say the least, but in an good way. He was happy that his son was getting closer to her. He wasn’t sure what Sofia had that every other kid in the daycare didn’t provide, but Leo was happy they got closer. “Okay, cheonsa. I’m gonna put you down then, and you two can show us where you want to go.”

Leo laughed a little bit as he got put down and Sofia immediately took charge, pointing to a house across the street that she insisted they had to go to first. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk were right behind the kids, just as eager to get candy as they were, while Keith tagged a little behind next to Ana. Allura and Shiro sticked to themselves mostly, and Keith was just waiting for the perfect moment to tease his brother for it. 

“You two seem close.” Ana wasn’t looking over at Keith, but given that they were alone, he knew she was addressing him.

“Hmm? Me and Lance?” When she nodded, Keith continued. “No, we really aren’t. I only met him a while ago, because my shift at the coffee shop changed. Plus, Leo goes to Little Lions now.”

“Still, he seems really comfortable around you. The fact that it only took a little over a month is impressive.”

“I mean, I don’t mean to tell you you’re wrong, but we’ve never hung out or anything. I’m not really sure what you’re talking about.”

Ana simply shrugged in response, and began to walk closer to the group. Keith caught up with them as well, not wanting to third wheel Shiro and Allura. He didn’t want to get in the middle of that.

While Ana, Pidge, and Hunk talked among themselves, Keith decided to walk next to Lance and his son. Lance was holding Leo’s hand, while Sofia held his. He smiled at the scene, and looked at Lance fondly. He really did seem good with kids. 

“Lovestruck already, Keith? Wow, I thought I’d at least have to take you on a date first.”

“Oh, shut it. It’s just- this is cute. I like seeing you outside of our jobs.”

Lance genuinely smiled back at Keith, but shrugged. “I’m nothing special, but it’s nice realizing that you do remember me and my pickup lines.”

“How could I forget? You had me swooning the moment you left the store,” Keith deadpanned. He wasn’t about to admit that wasn’t a complete lie. He  _ may _ have thought about Lance and his dazzling smile and cute face for the rest of the day, but that was purely because he needed something to think about so he wouldn’t get bored out of his mind.

As they reached the next house, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge ran up with the kids while Keith and Ana stayed back again.

“When did you have Sofia?”

“I got married when I turned 18, and had her when I was 21.”

“You got married that early? Why?”

Ana shrugged. “I know a lot of people thought we were too young. Even Lance lectured me about it a lot. But at the end of the day, I just knew. I was in love.”

“Lance is like two years younger than you though; why would you listen to him?”

“Well I mean, I didn’t. I did get married while 18. But despite the fact Lance doesn’t seem that mature at times, he ran our family for a bit. There was a… rough patch, I guess. And I know I should’ve been the one to step up and help out. But I couldn’t. I didn’t. And I’ll always regret that. But Lance, he’s- he’s one of the good ones, I guess. He doesn’t mind pushing down his needs for others. He’s self sacrificing, even to a stupid extent sometimes.”

Keith stood there, not really sure what to say. He looked at Lance who was grinning widely as they walked back from the house they just went to. There was just so much more he wanted to learn about him, but he wasn’t sure where to begin. He was jealous of Hunk, and how close those two seemed. Even Pidge and Coran knew more about him than he did. 

“How did you know you were in love?”

“It’s hard to describe. All the cliches actually oddly fit though, once you’re in love. But more than that, I just genuinely couldn’t imagine my life without him. I just wanted to learn everything about him, even if it was something as basic as his favorite color or as complicated as his past. I wanted him to be happy more than anything. And one day, you just look at him, and you just know. ” Ana shrugged, and rubbed her arm. “I know, dumb. But hopefully it sounds a little less cheesy since I’m dressed as Shrek telling you this.”

“I honestly think that makes it worse. But I’m glad it worked out for you two.”

Ana smiled softly at Keith, before looking at her brother. “I just wish Lance gets a chance to experience the same thing.”

And all Keith could think was,  _ Me too.  _ In the moment, he wasn’t worried about himself finding that. But he wanted to ensure Lance would get it. And that should’ve been the first sign for Keith, but he was just too blind to see it at the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read this story! It just reached 200 kudos and it means a lot! And I know I don't reply to all the comments, but I do read them all and they mean so much!! But your feedback means so much and has been such a driving force in the writing of this fic! Thank you again! <3
> 
> Also: Look at this art of Leo in his pumpkin costume: http://thefivecrazypeople.tumblr.com/post/158818895659


	8. Chapter 8

“Hey, sheriff.”

“Lance, shut the fuck up.”

“Language! Keith, you’re a father you should know better than that.”

Keith rolled his eyes at Lance. They were in the coffee shop, no children around, hell, nobody but the two of them around. Lance was the only person who ever showed up within the first hour of opening, probably because all the college kids weren’t even out of bed yet. He started on Lance and Hunk’s drinks prior to him even walking in, because it was routine. Though Lance always lingered in the shop even after he got his drinks.

“How did you rope Coran into your Halloween group costume, by the way?”

“Coran is the best. He literally was the perfect Oz for our group. He responds to logic, so obviously he agreed.”

“Yeah, he’s a good guy. Weird stories, half of which I’m pretty sure are not legal at all, but good.” Keith began to busy himself as he spoke to Lance, organizing everything from the coffee filters to the scones on display. Talking about Coran made him feel bad about just standing around and talking, even if that’s what Coran did most days he was behind the counter.

“My inspiration, truly. Of all his stories, he never talks about the days when he was a hot stud, but I’d ask him about it. He taught me how to flirt.”

“Ah, that explains a lot. You’re literally so cheesy.” 

“You ever flirt with your customers, Keithy-boy?”

“I’m not you. I don’t flirt with everybody that breathes.” 

“Hey, I only flirt with people who I have a chance with. Just ‘cause I’m bi and that includes more people doesn’t make me a flirt. I’ve never flirted with Pidge, and I didn’t flirt with Hunk after I found out he was straight. I wanted to flirt with Shiro, but even I know when I see a  _ god. _ ”

“When Shiro first got his newest prosthetic, which is a lot more advanced than his old ones, he told me he was gonna scale our building because he was invincible now. I told him to stop because, I mean, that’s literally the dumbest thing ever. But he just shrugged and said ‘if this is how I go out, so be it.’ He got about halfway up before the police were called and got him to climb down. When he got lectured for it, he just said that his cat climbed up there and he wanted to get his cat. We didn’t have a cat.” 

“Holy shit. Oh my god. I can’t believe this. I have to roast him.”

“You only know work him.” If Shiro wasn’t embarrassing himself in front of his friends, Keith joined the group at just the right time. And while Lance was distracted, Keith grabbed his drink from the counter, and a sharpie behind the desk. He had to do this before he had second thoughts. He scribbled on the side of the coffee sleeve and placed it back down. 

“What did you write?” Lance questioned, picking up his drink while looking at it.

“I guess I have flirted with a customer now. See you tomorrow, Lance.” Before turning around and heading into the storage closet, Keith winked at Lance. His mouth was open, and Keith considered teasing him about it, but knowing that his own face red was quickly becoming red, a quick escape seemed like a better option. 

Keith leaned with his back against the door, taking deep breaths, hoping to cool his face. “Holy shit,” he mumbled. He couldn’t believe he just did that. He didn’t know  _ why _ he just did that. Or why it was affecting him so much. He was just trying to challenge Lance back. It wasn’t a big deal. 

Lance was stuck, glance switching between down at his cup and where Keith was standing a few moments ago. It was, what he assumed was Keith’s phone number, next to Keith’s name. But next to that. A heart. A goddamn heart. He didn’t know what Keith meant by this. Was he actually flirting back? This was just like the Halloween; it could’ve just been for the game of it. And Lance didn’t know how he was supposed to react. 

By the time Lance finally made it to Little Lions, Hunk asked why his drink wasn’t hot anymore. But Lance just shook his head and shrugged. He wasn’t ready to tell Hunk about what happened because some part of him knew what Hunk would say. But Lance wasn’t ready to admit it yet. He hid the sleeve in his car, not sure what he wanted to do with it yet.

 

****

 

Keith was rubbing down the top of the counters. Today, when he opened up the shop, Lance didn’t come in. And he didn’t realize how important it became to his routine, until he spent the first half an hour watching the door for him, and thinking of different conversations they would usually be having at this point. Lance’s order sat on the counter behind him, getting cold. And Keith wasn’t really sure what to do with himself either, since nobody really showed up this early; he usually just dwelled on his conversation with Lance or planned his next weekend with Leo. 

Eventually Hunk finally came through the door, fixing his headband, and looking more disheveled than Keith has ever seen him. Keith leaned over the counter, confused, and hoping Hunk would provide an explanation without Keith having to ask. He didn’t want to seem like he was prying.

“Sorry, dude. Lance decided to go to the daycare early today, so I let him handle morning drop-offs and figured I’d do the coffee run today.”

“Oh okay. If you don’t mind me asking, why’d the routine change?”

“Lance is a stress cleaner. I mean, he’s really diligent with his stuff to begin with, never wanting to misplace a facial product or something. But he woke up early last night and apparently organized all my stuff. I’m the messy one out of us two. But he decided to head out early and organize the daycare, too. He gets nightmares sometimes, so my guess is it was just that, but usually he’s more open to at least trying to talk it out.”

Keith frowned, worried about Lance, but knew, even if he did decide to pry, Hunk would’ve already told him if he knew.  
“And Keith, you’re not prying. You’re in the friend group now. It’s okay if you worry about us. It’s sweet.”

Keith really wasn’t sure how to reply to Hunk’s comment. Instead, he just turned around, ignoring the two drinks already set aside, and began to make their drinks again. The two of them deserved better than lukewarm drinks. After all, they were friends now. Keith smiled as he worked smiled slightly.

“You know what’s weird? He was weird like all day yesterday. I don’t even know if it was because of a nightmare. In the morning, before I left for work, he was fine, but by the time he came in, he was acting kind of fidgety and stuff. I hope nothing happened while he was driving over.”

Keith’s face immediately fell, and he became so distracted, he almost burnt himself on the machine in front of him. He hissed, and began running his finger under some cold water, but it still hadn’t quieted his thoughts. Lance was acting weird after seeing  _ him _ . He was the reason for this. 

“Keith, are you okay? That looks like it hurt.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine, sorry.” Keith turned off the sink, dried off his hand, and went back to finishing up Hunk’s drink. “Here you go. Sorry for the wait. Have a nice day, Hunk. I hope Lance feels better.” 

“Yeah, me too. See you next week, Keith.” Keith waved halfheartedly at Hunk, and groaned into his hands, collapsing over the counter the second he was alone. 

“Shiro, I need you help.” Keith didn’t even process the fact he pulled out his phone and dialed his brother’s number, but here he was. He didn’t want to tell Shiro everything. Anything. But he didn’t know who else to turn to. 

“Keith,  I’m at work. And so are you.”

“Please, this is an emergency.”

Sensing the tone of his brother’s voice, more than his words, Shiro responded, “What’s wrong?”

“You’re not allowed to laugh or talk until I get to the end. Yesterday, Lance asked if I ever flirted with a customer, so I decided to write my number on the side of his cup as a joke, right? Except he was shocked and I was blushing, so I hid in the closet until I heard him finally leave. And now, he didn’t come in. Hunk did. And on top of that, he hasn’t been acting like himself since then. What did I do?”

Shiro tried to muffle his laughs on the other side of the line, but apparently they still got through to Keith. “Don’t forget I learned how to throw knives, Shiro. Don’t laugh at my pain. I seriously fucked Lance up”

“Language.”

“Ugh, he said that yesterday, too. I’m alone. It’s not like I’m cursing in front of Leo or something.”

“I’m sorry, I just- Keith. Just ask him out. Oh my god.”  
“What? No. Why would I ask Lance out? He’s so annoying. Have you heard his pickup lines? Besides, if he wanted me to ask him out, he wouldn’t be having an emotional breakdown the day after I flirted with him.”

“Shut it. I did it as a joke. I’m just worried Lance is taking it seriously.”

“Mhmm, I’m sure. Has he at least texted you since?”

“No, and I’m not sure what I should be doing.”

“If you’re that worried about him, why don’t you check in on him? That’s what boyfriends do after all.”

Keith hung up on his brother in response, clearly getting nowhere with him. He was so caught up on this idea that he liked Lance, or that Lance liked him. As if. The whole issue was that Lance was taking it seriously. And now he was uncomfortable around Keith. And Keith didn’t know what to do. But before Keith could wallow more in his thoughts, the bell sounded, indicating a customer — or rather, a group of them, and a loud group at that — just walked in. It was going to be a long day.

 

****

 

So maybe all of Shiro’s logic isn’t pointless. Keith was drumming his fingers against the steering wheel of his car, in the direction of Little Lions. After a long conversation convincing Nyma that he wanted to pick up Leo today, but he would even drop him off at her place still, she finally consented, but not before she told him to just take him home that night. “But don’t get any ideas; he’s my kid, too, and you can’t just steal him like that.” She hung up immediately after saying that, but Keith took the win.

It’s not that Keith was only doing this for Lance. He loved spending time with his son, and any extra time he spent with him was a blessing. But he knew better than to cause issues with Nyma by infringing her time with him. So he only tested it on certain days. And he couldn’t just show up at the daycare. He needed a reason, and well, as guilty as he felt using Leo, his son was a valid reason.

When he walked in, despite the fact it was about fifteen minutes to closing, Leo was still contently playing in the corner of the daycare, seemingly unconcerned by the fact he was the only one left in the daycare. Hunk was sitting near his son, whereas Lance was nowhere to be seen. Hunk immediately stood up when he saw Keith walk in, clear surprise written over his face.

“Keith? What are you doing here? Not that I’m upset, but it seems all our schedules are getting thrown out the window.” Hearing his dad’s name, Leo looked up quickly, and immediately jumped up at seeing his dad. 

“Papa!” Leo hugged his dad’s leg, and Keith rustled his hair, smiling down at him, before looking up to address Hunk again.

“Sorry for the last minute change, but I’m picking up Leo today. I know you probably expected Nyma to walk through the door.”

“It’s no worry, really. I actually feel a lot better with you picking up Leo. If you don’t mind the intrusion actually, I’d love to talk to you about that at some point.”

Keith raised an eyebrow, but agreed to it, before changing the topic. “Uh, so, where’s Lance? Is he feeling any better?”

Hunk smiled at that, though it felt a little bit mischievous. Keith wasn’t sure how to respond, but Hunk just called Lance over, and headed to the backroom where Lance must have been. While Keith was waiting, he asked his son to grab his coat, explaining to him the change in plans. Leo grinned widely, as he listened to what his dad said. When Lance turned the corner, his eyes widened at the man in front of him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to pick up Leo today. I hope that’s okay.” After an awkward pause, Keith rubbed his arm, as he added, “Uh, hey, um, sorry if I made things awkward yesterday. I was just trying to go along with the joke.”

Lance’s face seemed to pass through twenty emotions in a few seconds, and for a second in there, Keith thought he saw him frown. Finally, a smirk rested upon his face. “You know I already have your cell, right?”

“What?”

“All these records we keep. You gave it to me long before you ever laid eyes on me?”

“Are you saying you’d just randomly text kids’ parents.”

“No, but you’re not exactly a random parent either, pardner.” 

“I’m Texan, haha, I get it,” Keith rolled his eyes and bent down to help Leo zip his coat. “You should still text me, though. It would be nice to hang out with you guys outside of just pickups - coffee or kids.”

“I’ll consider it.”

“Night, Lance.”

“Night, Keith. Night, Leo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is 11:26pm my time when I am posting this, so it is not late. I don't care what you say.   
> Also, there will be art for this chapter later... so look out for that.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry and good luck

Leo still had trouble walking the path to his mom’s house. He knew that when he saw the flower lady he had to turn right, but in the beginning he kept mixing up his left and right. Now the flower lady helps him. As long as he can reach her stop, she points him in the direction he knows he has to walk, and reminds him gently that his house is the one with the green mailbox. Leo never had trouble recognizing his house, though. It was the only one on the block that had a broken front window and consistently dead grass. It made him feel better that it was getting colder because at least their grass won’t be the only dead lawn. 

Today, when he saw the flower lady at the store, she handed him a small violet. 

“Purple is your favorite color, right?”

Leo nodded and smiled brightly at her. “Thank you, Ma’am.”

“Would you like me to put it in your hair?” Leo nodded enthusiastically in response and allowed for her to gently entwine the stem in his hair, behind his ear. “There you go, cutie. Have fun. And remember, your house is the one with the green mailbox.” Leo nodded and headed towards the house, brighter than usual.

Leo did not have a pair of house keys, so if nobody answered his knocks, he just sat on the steps in front of the door. His mother wasn’t always home when he arrived, so he simply had to wait. Today just happened to be one of those days. He pulled out a small box of crayons and paper from his backpack, something his mom gave him when she was running late, and began to draw. 

Only a few minutes had passed when he heard a loud voice come from inside the house. He fell off the step and let out a cry. Leo felt a sharp pain on his leg and started whimpering when he saw a scrape on his knee. However, it seems the voices from inside the house didn’t hear him, as their conversation continued. 

“You aren’t holding up your end of the deal! You aren’t working as many hours as I am, but you’re still demanding that we split the pay. It’s crap!”

“Just cause I seduced the damn fool but didn’t chase him for two blocks doesn’t mean I put in less work, Rolo.”

Rolo! Leo remembered that name. He was a friend of his mother. Leo smiled, and walked up the steps again. He always wanted to meet Rolo, but he never got a chance to. Maybe today would be the day. Leo knocked on the door, rocking on his toes. He was excited. 

“Dammit! That was one lucky break. When the fuck are you gonna start holding up your end of this partnership?”

“I’m putting in work. Just because I’m not an insomniac and don’t work through every goddamn night doesn’t make me the bad guy.”

“But it sure as hell does make you a bitch of a partner. Our jobs pretty much always mean working during the night. Accept that or just quit already.”

Leo knocked on the door again, this time louder.

“This better be the asshole we lost because of you, or I’m about to flip a shit,” Rolo groaned.

“Shut up and just let me get the door.” When Nyma opened the door, her eyes widened. She swore under her breath, certain that this week was Keith’s week and not hers. She didn’t want Leo dragged into this.

“Please go,” she whispered under her voice.

Leo wasn’t sure what was happening. Why was his mom telling him to leave? He just got here. He didn’t even get to meet her friend yet!

“What? But m-”

Rolo heard Leo’s voice from the door and headed over to behind Nyma. “Who’s the little twerp? Tell him to scram already. We need to finish this.”

“Mom, why is your friend yelling?”

Nyma cringed at what Leo said, and repeated louder this time for him to go. But the damage of what Leo said was already done.

“Wait, wait, wait. That’s your kid. You have a fucking kid.”

Nyma blinked, and allowed her face to harden before facing her partner. “I’ve never seen this little brat before. Who the hell does he think he is, calling me mom? Gross.” A scowl rested on her face and she scrunched her nose. Leo watched with wide eyes what was happening, but couldn’t understand any of it. 

Rolo walked forward, pushing Nyma out of the way, and stood over her son. “Go away. And here’s a lesson for the future, stupid. Boy’s don’t wear flowers in their hair.” The sheer intimidation and sound of his voice caused Leo to stumble backwards, wanting to get further away from him. He didn’t like his mom’s friend. Rolo raised his voice and screamed at Leo again. He started crying. He didn’t know what was happening. His mom looked upset, too, but she wasn’t doing anything. Why wasn’t she doing anything? Leo just wanted to be with his Papa. 

So he ran. 

He didn’t know how to get home. He didn’t know how to get anywhere minus the flower lady, and maybe the daycare. But in his mind, the loud, mean voice kept yelling. So he ran to the flower lady. 

But she wasn’t there. 

When Leo reached the front of her store, he knocked three, four, five times before he started wailing. He pulled the violet out of his hair and threw it on the ground. He stomped on it, rubbing it into the dirt with his shoe. He never wanted to see the flower lady again. He never wanted to see another violet again. 

He didn’t know what to do anymore. He didn’t know where he was supposed to go. He just wanted to be with his Papa. 

So he tried to get to the daycare on his own. They would help. Maybe even Uncle Shiro will be there. He could take him home. Leo just wanted to be home. Leo crossed his fingers, since Sofia said it was good luck, and turned one way and started walking. He hoped this was the way to the daycare. 

He was just walking now, not able keep running, and while the tears kept coming, they were silent now. He got strange looks from other people on the street, but he was used to it at this point. People always thought it was odd to see a four-year old walking alone. In the past, a few people have stopped him to ask if he was lost or if he needed help finding his mom, but only the flower lady didn’t ask confusing questions or ones he wasn’t allowed to answer. So Leo liked her. But she wasn’t there for him today. 

Leo kicked every rock in his way as hard as he could as he walked forward. His stomach grumbled, and he was tired. He just wanted to be eat dinner. He started quietly crying again. He was supposed to be eating mac and cheese with his mother right now. Why doesn’t Mom want to eat mac and cheese with him?

Keeping an eye on the building signs, Leo tried to look for the little lion cub. He wasn’t able to read the signs, but that was the only sign he’s ever seen with a sleeping lion, and he’s looked up at that sign enough to recognize that it was his signal. And eventually, finally, he saw it in the distance. 

Leo started running again, just wanting to be taken home as quick as possible. His hope was restored. He wasn’t that fast, and his short legs could only take him so quickly, but he pushed himself as hard as he could to make it to the daycare. He just wanted to be with his Papa. And finally, he reached it. 

But the lights were off.

But the door was locked.

Leo pushed and pushed against the door, before just resting his exhausted body against the door. Leo was always the last kid to leave, and while it made sense that the daycare would close up after he left, just as it makes sense that the flower shop would close for the evening, Leo felt betrayed, abandoned. Even if he didn’t know the words for his feelings, they overwhelmed him and drowned out everything else. He wept and wept in front of the door and kicked it for good measure. He wanted them to know what they did to him. Hunk and Pidge and Lance. They were all mean to him. Why did nobody want him? Did Papa even want him?

Leo collapsed onto the ground and kept crying. He just wanted to be with his Papa.

A shadow suddenly came over Leo, and a soft voice spoke up. “Leo, is that you, buddy?”

Leo looked up towards the voice that just called towards him. And he started crying harder, body shaking with each heave. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tfw this chapter has been done for two days now but you almost forget to post it until you see frikin klance on your dash
> 
> This chapter was shorter than normal, but I think the emotional journey makes up for it.  
> Also.... pls don't hate me
> 
> PS I really wanted to write this chapter in the style Lemony Snicket uses but it was too much and I don't have the skill to.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry..,,. ., apparently I'm a slut for pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this, I just want to thank everyone reading this fic! 300+ kudos! Almost 3k hits! That's amazing. This is super exciting. I'm glad everyone is liking this fic!  
> And special shout out to everyone who comments. They're literally the best thing. It's literally so sweet!
> 
> So thank you everybody! And I'm sorry for what you're about to read.

“Leo, is that you, buddy?”

Leo looked up towards the voice that just called towards him. Leo started crying harder body shaking with each heave. But this time, it was from a completely different emotion. Relief. Lance was standing before him.

Lance immediately dropped the bag he was holding to pick Leo up in his arms and rock him lightly.

“Shhh, shhh. It’s okay, it’s going to be okay.” Leo’s whole body was shaking in his arms, but he didn’t seem to be calming down. First thing first, Lance wanted to get him out of the cold weather. He balanced Leo in his arms as he dug into his pocket to pull out the keys for the daycare. He and Hunk had just locked up and left through the back entrance. Had Lance not been lucky enough to get a parking spot in front of the daycare, as opposed to the back where Hunk’s car was, he probably would have never seen Leo. And he doesn’t know what he would have done if that was the case. 

After successfully unlocking the door, he dragged the bag inside with him, never once considered putting Leo down. He cursed under his breath, realizing that he should have saved Keith’s number in his cell phone the second he got it. He flipped rapidly through their binder until he finally reached Keith’s page. He pulled out his cell and dialed the number quickly. Thankfully, Keith picked up after a few rings.

“Hello? Who is this?”

“Keith, it’s Lance. I need you to come to the daycare.” Leo sobbed louder, recognizing the names in the call. He just wanted his papa. 

“Wait, is that Leo crying? Why didn’t Nyma pick him up today?” Keith was already ripping off his apron as he jumped over the counter. Thank god that nobody was currently in the store.

“Keith, please.” The thought of calling Nyma never crossed his mind, even though he knew it was her week. Keith could deal with contacting Nyma, though. He needed to be here for Leo, not making a bunch of calls.

“I’m on my way.”

Lance quickly hung up the phone and sat down on the carpeted floor, seating Leo in his lap. He rocked back and forth with Leo in his arms, chin resting on the top of his head. Old habits die hard, because in a few moments Lance was singing softly under his breath. It was a song his parents used to sing to him when he was younger, and one he quickly learned to sing to his siblings. He didn’t have the best singing voice, but that didn’t matter. 

Apparently it didn’t even matter that Leo didn’t understand the Spanish he was singing. It didn’t even matter that he didn’t know the song the way his siblings did. He was still quieting down, slowly, even if his body was still wracking with silent sobs. Even when he began to still, Lance continued to sing. He continued to sing until he finished his song, and then immediately began it again. He didn’t know what brought Leo to him like this, or what caused him to be this upset, but this was the least he could do. It’s what he learned to do. As he always reminds himself while on the job, he’s good with children. And maybe that was only because of his childhood, but he would take it if that meant he could get a smile to replace the look on Leo’s face.

Keith reached the daycare in record time, barely remembering to flip the sign to closed as he ran out of the coffee shop. He was supposed to work until midnight tonight, but he’d figure that all out later. He needed to get to Leo first. He sped on his way to the daycare and impatiently slapped his palms against the steering wheel as he just happened to hit. Every. Single. One. on his way over. 

When he finally reached the daycare, he quickly hopped out of his car, shoving the keys into his pocket and headed through the door, bell ringing loudly in the quiet. And he halted to a stop to take in the sight before him.

Lance was quietly singing to his son, rocking him back and forth in his arms. Leo was quiet in his arms, possibly even asleep at this point, but Lance didn’t stop. And Keith’s whole heart warmed. If he ever was to get into a relationship again, he would have to date someone like Lance. Someone who cared about Leo just as much as he did. 

Lance looked up at the sound of the daycare bell and smiled softly when Keith walked in. He gestured with his head for Keith to come over. Keith sat down next to Lance and looked down at his son. Leo’s cheeks were still tear-stained and it broke Keith’s heart. But he was asleep now, calmly laying in Lance’s arms. Keith’s eyes quickly examined him to make sure he had no bruises or cuts, which he seemed to be free of, despite the bandages he just loves wearing. Keith let out a breath in relief and collapsed his head onto Lance’s shoulder. 

“Thank you. So much,” Keith whispered as he blinked away his own tears and sighed again, before lifting his head off of Lance’s shoulder. “Do you know what happened? Why was he crying?”

Lance shook his head. “After he walked home, Hunk and I just began packing up. But when I finished locking up and headed towards my car, I just saw him crying in front of the door. I don’t know what happened, but we- I mean, you can ask him later.”

“What do you mean he walked home?”

“Nyma insisted that we let Leo walk home alone because she lives right here.”

“And you didn’t try to stop her! Aren’t you two supposed to be responsible with kids?” Everything Keith was thinking about how good Lance was with children was shattered. How could he let this happen. His voice was raising, and he probably should’ve been quieter, but he couldn’t think about that at this point. 

“We tried to convince her otherwise, but at the end of the day, it’s her call as a parent. It’s not our call to make how people parent.” Lance felt bad, because he knew Hunk was consistently stressed over this, and even Lance didn’t like the call. But they both knew it was out of their hands. 

“What if he got lost, Lance? Or worse, kidnapped? I just- I can’t believe you right now.” Keith huffed, and moved away from Lance to look at him straight on. “I trust you with Leo. And you pull this shit.” Keith gently took Leo out of Lance’s arms, who seemed to be beginning to wake up. 

“Keith,  _ please _ , I-” Lance started, but was quickly cut off by Keith.

“No. Just, no, Lance. I can’t do this right now.” Keith turned away from Lance and began rocking Leo gently in his arms. Leo was looking back at Lance, who’s mouth was hanging open, a million things he wanted to say, stuck on the tip of his tongue. And he began to cry again, reaching his arm out towards him. Leo wanted his Papa. But not like this. He didn’t want Lance to be sad and for his Papa to be mad. 

Keith, however, assumed his son was crying due to the prior events and simply kept gently rocking his son as he headed towards his car. As far as he was concerned, this was the last time he would ever walk through that doorway. He knew this was a bad idea since the beginning. He doesn’t know why he trusted Shiro. He shouldn’t have left his son with anyone who wasn’t family. But first, he needs to focus on cheering his son up.

“Cheonsa, shh, shh. It’s going to be okay. Do you want to get some ice cream? Will that make you feel better?” Leo dug his face into his dad’s shirt, but nodded his head. His stomach growled at the thought of food.

“Did you eat dinner, Leo?” Leo shook his head, and in response Keith sighed. He buckled his son into his carseat, and quickly called Coran to let him know that an emergency came up and he closed the shop before driving off. He wanted to call Nyma, to give her a piece of his mind, to ask her what the fuck she thought she was doing, but he Leo needed to be his focus right now. And the last thing he wanted for Leo to deal with on top of this is his parents fighting. 

Lance was paralyzed after Keith left. Why was Keith blaming him? What just happened? Why wouldn’t Keith let him explain himself? He tried to process all that just happened, still standing in the middle of the daycare. He was stuck in this trance until he heard his phone ringing.

“Uh, hello?”

“Lance, where are you? I thought you were coming straight to the apartment. I not only went grocery shopping and arrived before you, but I’ve already started dinner. You were supposed to help me cook tonight.”

“Sorry, Hunk. I- uh, I got held up. I’ll explain everything when I get there. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

Hunk’s tone immediately softened. “No, no. It’s okay. I was just worried there was an accident or something. I wanted to make sure you were safe. Take your time. It’s okay.”

Lance said his goodbyes and quickly began picking up his bags again. He would go mad if he tried to deal with this on his own. He needed his best friend right now. Even if it was just to eat some amazing dinner and scream a little bit. 

Lance locked up the daycare again, throwing his bags into the back of the car. He sighed as he got into the driver’s seat and took a few moments to just breathe. He rubbed his temples before finally deciding to start the car. The sooner he left, the better.

As he began to pull out of his spot, a figure jumped in front of his car, palms facing towards him. His heart stopped as he slammed the breaks (even if he was only going 2 miles per hour). He quickly through the car in park and climbed out when he realized who it was.

“What are you doing, Nyma!? Why the hell would you jump in front of my car?”

“Where is Leo?”

“He’s your son. Shouldn’t you know?”

Nyma slammed her hands on the hood of the car. “Dammit, Lance. Don’t be like this. Have you seen him. I get it. I fucking messed up. I just want to make sure he’s safe.”

“Wow, finally stepping up to the plate of being a parent, huh?” Lance knew this wasn’t fair. Or maybe it was. Still, some part of him was yelling at him to shut up. That he’s not a parent and he can’t criticize her. That the fact she’s here is proof for something. That he was really just doing the same thing Keith did to her. But Lance’s emotions were too loud for him to listen to those thoughts, and she was the person responsible.

“Stop being a bitch. Just answer my question.”

“Why? So you can stop feeling guilty? I’m not going to give you that kind of relief. What you did wasn’t right.”

“I know that, Lance. But you don’t know shit about me. You can’t understand the whole situation.” Nyma was looking down at the ground, unable to make eye contact with Lance. 

“Murder is murder, regardless of reason.”

“I was trying to protect him.” She looked up with a different light in her eyes now, but Lance still didn’t by a word of it.

“By sending him wandering the streets alone! He’s four, Nyma! Who does that?”

“So you’ve seen him? He’s with Keith then. Oh thank god.” She sighed, collapsing in on herself, losing the strength she had just moments ago. “Oh thank god,” she muttered again to herself. 

“Just- just leave me alone, Nyma. I don’t want to deal with this anymore. Call Keith if you’re worried.” Lance was exhausted, and he just didn’t want to deal with this anymore. He was tired and the day’s events were leaving him with a throbbing head. He climbed back into the driver’s seat of his car and waited until Nyma left. 

And he broke down. 

He wanted to pull out of his parking space and drive home, but he couldn’t. Through his tears, he tried to dial a number on his phone and prayed that he dialed Hunk’s number correctly. When he heard his voice, a new wave of tears hit Lance, rocking him harder. 

“Lance, what’s up?” Hunk paused, waiting for a response, but quickly continued when he heard Lance crying. “Hey, it’s okay. Where are you, Lance? I’ll drive you back.”

Lance barely whispered his location, but somehow Hunk was able to tell what Lance was saying between the sobs.

“I’ll be there in five. Just wait there.”

When Hunk hung up, Lance let the phone slip from his hand and onto the car floor, before burying his face into his hands and letting himself go. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls dont hate me


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salvation for my children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ch's a bit long, but you'll like it don't worry

"I don't want to sleep."

A day had passed since Keith last spoke to Lance, and he hasn't let Leo out of his sight since. However, unlike the night before when Leo seemed to just pass out the second they finished eating, he was having a lot of trouble falling asleep. Keith tried reading him multiple books, driving around in the car with him, and even hoped he would just tire himself out if they went to the playground. But Leo was still very much awake and even as the minutes ticked past his bedtime, he didn't seem to be more willing to sleep.

"Why not?"

"You'll leave if I'm asleep."

"Cheonsa, Papa's right here. It's just time to go to bed, okay. I promise I'm not leaving you."

Leo just shook his head in response and crossed his arms. "What about Lance, Papa?"

Keith raised his eyebrow at that. He still hadn't resolved things with Lance and he wasn't really sure he wanted to. He called his brother last night after Leo went to bed to give him a piece of his mind. But Shiro just told him he needed to take some deep breaths and reanalyze the situation. It wasn't Lance's fault, according to him. Maybe he was right, maybe Keith did lash out at Lance. But he wasn't ready to resolve things yet.

"What about Lance, cheonsa?"

"Is he going to leave me, too?"

"Lance isn't family, Leo, you know that."

"But Papa-"

Keith didn't want to concede to that point. As far as he was concerned, most people leave you. Though he ended up lucky with his adoption into Shiro's family, he also knew how many times he was left alone prior to that. How many families left him. How many friends did. But he also knew what his son needed to hear. But he wasn't going to be the one to lie to him.

"Would you like me to call Lance?"

Leo excitedly nodded his head in response. Keith sighed as he pulled out his phone and searched through his previous calls for Lance’s number. He hoped that it was Lance’s cell and not the daycare’s number. He tapped his foot lightly as the phone rang, and was about to hang up when he heard Lance’s voice.

“Keith?” Keith bit the inside of his cheek, realizing that meant Lance had saved him in his phone. He immediately felt a bit guilty.

“Hey, Lance. Hi, um, I’m sorry, is this a bad time?”

“No, no, I mean, you’re already on the phone. Uh, what do you need?”

“I know it’s a bit of a weird request, but Leo is asking for you. He’s been having trouble sleeping. Do you think you could talk to him?”

Lance looked down at his phone, and next to Hunk, who was intrigued and watching this call play out in front of him. He put his phone back to his ear, realizing Keith was waiting for a response. But he wasn’t sure how to respond. “Would you like me to come over?” Hunk’s eyebrows raised as he scooted closer to his friend, trying to eavesdrop on the call.

“Oh. I was just thinking over the phone. But you know what, yeah, that would be great. Only if it isn’t a hassle though. I feel bad. You agreed to watch him at the daycare, not this late.”

“Let me just check in with Hunk to make sure it’s chill.” Lance lowered the phone and put it on mute before looking at Hunk. “Bro, what should I do?”

“Don’t go if it’s going to make you anxious. You were a mess after yesterday.”

“But I feel bad. Leo really seems to need me.”

“It’s up to you. Don’t push yourself. Shiro told me that he scolded him today, so I mean, I doubt anything would get bad. But what he did yesterday isn’t excused by that. Besides, Leo has Keith. They will be okay if you don’t go.”

“I know he just blew up on me. He- I still trust him. Whether or not I should. And I’d feel too guilty if I didn’t go, Hunk.”

“Well, you’ve never turned down a kid in need before, so I guess I’m not surprised.”

Lance sighed, but knew what he was going to do. He picked the phone and turned it back off mute.

“Hey, Keith. I’ll head over in a bit. Sorry that took a bit, I had to locate Hunk.”

“Thank you so much, Lance.” Keith hung up and told his son what was happening, to his ecstatic response. Given how excited he got, while Keith was happy to put that smile on his face, he was worried that this would be mute in getting Leo asleep.

It only took ten or so minutes after Keith texted Lance his address for there to be a knock on his door. Keith quickly stood up from Leo’s bed to get the door, and despite his request, Leo crawled out of bed himself and tagged along.

“Lance!” Leo stood on his tiptoes and put his arms up towards the visitor. Lance hugged the kid, before putting him back down.

“So, that’s kind of the problem. He’s been having a lot of trouble falling asleep. And now I’m starting to wonder if this will just excite him more.”

“You called the best. They might as well call me Vin Diesel ‘cause I’m the pacifier.”

“What does that mean?”

“Have you not heard of that movie? Wow, you’re missing out Keith.”

Keith rolled his eyes in response, and asked in a softer voice, “Do you think you could sing to him again, or something?” He fiddled with his thumb a little bit, feeling awkward about mentioning the singing. It felt like something sacred - something he didn’t have the right to know about.

“Oh, yeah if that’s what Leo wants.” Lance tucked Leo back into his bed and sat on the edge of it. Keith waited in the doorframe, watching over the scene, but feeling like it wasn’t meant for him to be a part of it.

“Lance? Are you going to leave me?” Leo’s eyes were wide as he watched Lance’s face closely.

“You want to hear something interesting?” Leo nodded his head, so Lance continued. “We’re never actually alone. Even when your dad is at work or I’m not in the room with you, we’re still there. You just have to think about us, and it’s like we’re suddenly there. Nobody ever leaves you, Leo. In fact, can you imagine Hunk here right now?”

Leo pouted for a second before shaking his head.

“Come on. I’ll try with you. What’s something funny Hunk would do right now if he was here?”

“I like when he makes those silly faces.”

“Me too, buddy. Can you imagine that? Imagine means to try to see it. Try to see Hunk sticking his tongue out.”

Leo giggled a little bit and smiled. “I can see him!”

“See? Hunk’s here right now. Even if you can’t see him. He didn’t leave you. And neither will I or your papa.”

Leo was calmed by these thoughts, feeling less fearful than he had minutes prior. He was also glad to see Lance hear, knowing that it meant his Papa wasn’t mad at Lance. Lance had helped him. Not hurt him.

“Would you still like me to sing you a lullaby?” Leo nodded his head and Lance began to sing the same song from the night before. The song his mother sang to him when he was younger. When his family was still whole.

Keith watched from the doorway and his chest felt tight. For a second, he wished Lance was Leo’s father instead of him. He clearly can do it better - raise him better. And he wanted Leo to have the best. But he also knew in that moment he had completely forgiven Lance. He clearly wanted the best for Leo. And anyone who wanted that was on Keith’s good side. And then, he started singing.

_“Señora Santana por qué llora el niño_

_Por una manzana que se le ha perdido_

_Yo te daré una, yo te daré dos_

_Una para el niño y otra para vos_

_Yo no quiero una, yo no quiero dos_

_Yo quiero la mía_

_Que se me perdió.”_

Keith listened to Lance’s soft voice and the emotions that flooded him the first time hit him even stronger. He realized Lance was singing in Spanish this time, and while he had picked up some Spanish from living in Texas, he wasn’t completely positive as to what Lance was saying. Even Keith felt calmed by Lance’s singing and he felt entranced by Lance’s singing as he relaxed against the door. He closed his eyes as he continued to listen to Lance, and was startled when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Keith?”

Keith blinked a few times to realize Lance was now standing in front of him, the lights were off in Leo’s room, and he was completely out. Keith gave a small smile towards Lance. “Thank you. What were you singing?”

Lance smiled, and looked down, rubbing his arm. “It’s just something my mom sang to me growing up. It’s a Cuban thing, I guess. I learned it pretty early on because it helped my siblings calm down too.”

Keith wasn’t sure what else to say, but he didn’t want Lance to leave yet. “Um, would you like anything to eat or something? I would offer to make you coffee, but that feels a little too much like worse. Plus I drink it black; I can’t make a caramel macchiato here. I also have hot chocolate, though.” Keith began to walk towards the kitchen as Lance followed behind him.

Lance wasn’t really sure he wanted to stay that much longer, but Keith didn’t seem confrontational right now, and after talking to Leo, he wanted to try and become a bigger part of his life. Leo had a hold on Lance’s heart now. And the only way to spend more time with Leo was if he could get along with Keith more.

“Sure, hot cocoa sounds great.”

“With milk or water?”

“Milk. What kind of question is that? I’m not a savage, Keith.”

Keith rolled his eyes as he began to make Lance’s drink. “I drink mine with water. The only reason I know some people make it with milk is ‘cause Shiro once gave me like a half an hour lecture after I made his hot cocoa ‘wrong.’”

“Well, I mean, you deserved it.”

“I was just trying to do something nice! And he attacks me like that.”

“Have you ever even tried it with milk?” Keith paused before admitting he hadn’t. “Well, we’re making you it with milk today. I promise you it’s so much better.”

“I’m lactose intolerant, Lance.”  
“Oh shit, sorry.”

“Nah, it’s okay. Fuck me up. I’ll try it.” Lance raised his eyebrow and Keith, but shrugged before grabbing the milk jug next to Keith and pouring it into the second mug. After both their drinks were warmed and they sat down, Lance watched Keith take his first sip. His eyes widened as he looked over.

“Holy shit. This is actually a lot better.”

“Told you.” Lance smirked as he watched Keith take a gulp from the mug. “Where’d you get these mugs from anyway?” The one Lance was holding said “I want to believe” with a giant martian head on the side. And Keith’s said “Don’t talk to me until this is empty.”

“I like them. I collect them I guess. With the amount of coffee I drink, I might as well have cool mugs.”

Lance smiled. He was happy that they were able to be comfortable with each other, despite the events that transpired the day before. But of course, it seemed they wouldn’t be able to go the whole time without addressing it.

“Hey, Lance. I’m really sorry about yelling at you yesterday. It wasn’t your fault.”

“It’s okay, I get it.”

“No, just let me finish this. It _wasn’t_ okay. The only person I should’ve gotten upset at over that situation is probably Nyma. But I mean, what do I do if it is Nyma’s fault, y’know?”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s Leo’s mother. He’s been through enough, and I still don’t even know the whole story. Even if Nyma did cause this whole thing. So what? Take Leo’s mother out of his life? Is that really the best thing for him right now? I just- Shiro keeps yelling at me to talk to her. That she deserves a piece of my mind, not him or you. But, I genuinely don’t want to know what she did wrong.” Keith paused for a minute, looking down at his mug as it began to cool. “Ignorance is bliss, I guess.” He weakly shrugged.

Both Keith and Lance weren’t really sure why Keith was opening so much to Lance. Keith hadn’t even told Shiro all of this yet. Keith knew Lance deserved an explanation, but once he started talking, it felt as though all this thoughts kept pouring out. Lance wasn’t sure why Keith was so comfortable with him. It reminded him of the night under the stars. He started thinking of home again, but this time, he didn’t need the stars to feel that way.

“Hey, talking to her doesn’t mean you have to immediately take action, right? It’ll help you get some resolution, and maybe find out what happened without having to push Leo too much. If you at least know what happened, you can figure out what your next steps are, and you don’t necessarily have to remove Nyma from your lives. But, until you do decide what you wish to do, maybe you shouldn’t let Leo go to Nyma’s.”

“It’s just- I couldn’t raise Leo on my own. I don’t have the money to do that. I’m only doing okay right now because I work two shifts at the coffee shop and I have that editing job on the weeks Leo is supposed to be with Nyma. I can’t lose that. And I just rely on Shiro so much already. He’s the one who helped me handle this whole thing. I can’t ask more of him.” Keith groaned and put his face into his hands.

“I don’t know the specifics of all this, but maybe you can get child support or something. Or even just reach out to Nyma to see if she’d be willing to pitch in a little more. And I know you didn’t drop him off at the daycare today, which I understand, but know that outside of the daycare, we are all willing to lend a hand. I mean, at the very least, I’ll put Hunk and myself on the table, whenever you just need a break, Keith. We’re friends, right? We’re here to support each other.”

“Yeah, we’re friends.” Keith smiled at Lance. He had never really gotten close to anyone before, excluding Shiro, and while he supposed it went without saying that he and Lance had gotten closer over the past couple of months, there was something different about hearing Lance say it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a bunch of notes, so I apologize.  
> 1) I will not be posting a chapter for the next two weeks, due to finals.  
> 2) Here a link to the lullaby that Lance sings in this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTxd2dyQCDM I am not personally Cuban, but we did research to try to find a Cuban lullaby (apparently this is also common in other countries as well, though). If anyone has any corrections they would like to make, feel free, I'd love to get some input. This is the rough translation:  
>  _"Mrs. Santana, why does the boy cry?_  
>  _Because of an apple that is lost,_  
>  _I will give you one, I will give you two,_  
>  _One for the boy, another one for you._  
>  _I don't want one, I don't one two,_  
>  _I just want mine,_  
>  _That I lost."_  
>  I personally imagine Lance not to have the long vowels tone in his voice as this singer (what makes the song sound "opera-ish"), but for them to be a bit more closed.  
> 3) Also, you probably didn't notice but my username has changed slightly. It's a long story for a small change but the middle 's' was removed. My new writing blog on tumblr (where I talk about how things have changed while writing and give teasers for future chapters) also has this url, because my writing tag on my main just got really messy.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: 12pt font, times new roman, single-spaced (w/ spacing after paragraphs)... this fic is 58 pages. I cannot believe this. How did this get so long?

“You had the opportunity to talk some sense into Keith and you didn’t tell him to cut Nyma out of their life. Lance, we both know she’s not good for Leo.” Hunk was standing next to the couch Lance collapsed on once he returned back from Keith’s. He had stayed there kind of late talking, and was honestly very surprised to find out that Hunk was still awake. He had gotten Hunk onto his sleep routine, which usually ensured eight hours for perfect complexion. But maybe Hunk just followed it when Lance was actually around.

“It wasn’t my place.”

“What do you mean, it wasn’t your place? Dude, when would it have been more obvious Keith wanted your opinion? One, you two were having a conversation about what he should do. Two, you comforted Leo directly after the whole thing, plus Keith needed you to help put him to bed or something, and three, you babysit the kid for like eight hours a day! What’s going to happen to Leo now? Nyma needs to leave.”

Lance stood up and reached out for Hunk’s arm as he began to pace in front of him. Hunk was a worrier, and though most people only saw how Hunk helped Lance, it was in moments like this, when Hunk’s frantic thoughts clouded his vision, where Lance helped him the most.

“Buddy, relax. Relax. Sit down with me.” Lance slowed his breaths and rubbed Hunk’s arm lightly as they sat down together. “I know you’re worried for Leo. Hell, it’d be messed up if you weren’t worried for him. Keith’s our friend, and Leo’s a sweetheart. Nyma may not be a good influence, but at some point, Keith had to love her right? Going in and just insulting Nyma probably wouldn’t have went over well. Plus, it really isn’t my place. Keith’s Leo’s father. He’s going to get to make the call at the end of the day, and regardless of whether we like it or not, he’s our friend. We shouldn’t judge his decision when we don’t know everything they’ve been through. He needs our support.”

The tension left Hunk’s body and he collapsed against the back of the couch. “Yeah, I guess. I just- I can’t believe she did that, Lance. I knew from the second we met her something was up.”

“I know, I know. I can’t believe it either. But I trust Keith. He’ll come to the best decision for Leo. I know all the parents we meet say they love their kids, but there’s something in the way he looks at Leo. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Reminds me of the way you look at your nephew.”

Lance sighs, looking over at his roommate. “He just looks so much like Ivan. I feel like it’s like an alternative world, where I get to watch him grow up.”

“Why didn’t he go trick-or-treating with us, by the way? I thought that was really weird, but I forgot to ask.”

“Stomach bug or something like that. He stayed with his dad and I gave him my candy, though in retrospect I probably shouldn’t have given a bunch of candy to a kid with a tummy ache.” Lance shrugged, before leaning forward to grab the remote for their TV. “But enough of that. Have you finished binging Bob’s Burgers yet?”

“Nah, I was waiting for you to finish it. But I feel like we should try to make some of those burgers of the day at some point.”

“Some guy does that on Youtube. You’d love it. But I’m down to help you, though you know you’re going to tell me what to do.”

“So the usual routine?” Lance laughed lightly in response, before turning his attention to the episode that was starting up.

****

“I’m so sorr-”

“Keith, just go already. I’ve already said I’m fine with watching Leo for a few hours. Besides, this is something you need to do, and I’m just glad you’re finally doing it.”

Keith fiddled with his leather gloves, nervous about leaving Leo with Lance. Yes, he did trust Lance, and he knew that Lance had offered to watch Leo. And he did watch Leo during the weekdays anyway. Still, something felt different about dropping Leo off at Lance’s home.

“Papa, are you staying too?” Leo looked up from where he had already settled down with a barbie car he loved racing around with. Though nobody really minded that he played with it, when Keith did ask Leo why he liked that more than hotwheels, which Keith played with growing up, Leo replied ‘What’s the point of driving if nobody can fit into my car?’, which is a fair point.

“No cheonsa, I have to go do something, okay? But I’ll be back quick. And you haven’t seen Uncle Lance in so long. You should play with him.” Leo nodded quietly, going back to playing with his toys. For the whole week, Keith decided not to take Leo back to the daycare, wanting to watch over him himself. So, even though he probably could’ve gone to Shiro with Leo, he wanted him to see Lance, and Hunk if he got back from his date with Shay while he was still gone. And, he wanted to show Lance that he did trust him, and that the last time they talked wasn’t just talk.

Lance smiled at hearing ‘Uncle Lance.’ It was different when Sofia called him Tío, because that’s what he was. But this, this was a term of endearment. Acceptance. And knowing that Keith trusted him that much, and Leo accepted him meant the world to him.

“Keith, you didn’t tell him that you’re going to see his mom?”

“Should I have? I just- I feel like I’m just taking shots in the dark right now about how much he should know. I didn’t want him to be sad again; he finally started being active and regularly smiling again.”

“No, I understand why you did that. And hey, like we talked about earlier: It’s all up to you. Just think about what the best for Leo is. And, ever since I’ve known you, you’ve never done anything but that.”

Keith nervously smiled, before quickly taking a step forward and wrapping his arms tightly around Lance. “Thank you,” he said softly near Lance’s ear, and it took Lance a moment to process what was happening and hug him back.

“Hey, don’t sweat it. Good luck, Keith.”

As they began to pull away from the hug, Leo ran up hugging their legs together. “I want a hug!” Both Keith and Lance started laughing in response, lightening the mood.

“Of course, cheonsa.” Keith kneeled down to tightly hug his son and kissed the top of his head, before standing up, finally readying himself to leave and face Nyma.

“Now it’s my turn.” Lance picked up Leo and held him high. He blew a raspberry on his stomach, causing Leo to giggle and squirm, before lowering him into his arms and hugging him. “Say bye to your papa!”

“Bye, Papa!” Leo waved, still in Lance’s arms, smile big on both of their faces. Keith smiled and felt a little more tension leave his body as he shut the door behind him. If only Nyma was more like Lance. Than he wouldn’t have been in this situation.  

****

Keith was standing on the steps leading up to Nyma’s door, waiting for her to respond to the knocks. He looked through the now fixed up window, trying to tell if she was inside. Keith tapped his foot impatiently, and knocked again. If Nyma wasn’t home…

She opened the door a few moment after that, bags under her eyes and hair messily tied up into a bun. Her eyes widened and mouth dropped slightly at the sight of her ex.

“Keith?”

Keith realized at that moment that despite all the time he spent building himself up for this, he forgot to tell Nyma that he was headed over. He felt bad, hoping she wasn’t too busy. But it was supposed to be her weekend with Leo, so he assumed not.

“Are you busy? I wanna talk.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Let’s go get some coffee or something. I’ll grab my coat.”

“Can we just stay here?”

Nyma shrugged and opened her door wider so Keith could enter. “I’m sorry, I know it’s a bit messy right now. Work has been a bit- hectic, to say the least.”

“What are you even doing now? You told me you were working as a secretary, but this is a lot of shit to bring home for a 9 to 5.” Nyma’s house was relatively nice, and Keith was always a little jealous of it. While he loved his apartment, there was something that just felt right when it came to a raising a kid in a house. On top of that, she had a sense of style that felt like everything was mismatched, but also fits together so perfectly. Keith just focused on utility when filling his house, but it didn’t have the feeling of intentionality that Nyma has when it came to her interior design.

But her house also didn’t really say parent. The second anyone entered Keith’s apartment, they knew without a doubt that Leo lives there. Toys hazardly scattered the main room, juice boxes and kraft mac and cheese covered multiple countertops in his kitchen, a giant stuffed bear had a permanent home on his couch, and most outlets had safety plugs. But Nyma’s house was an independent adult’s house. The furniture was nice, not stuff you could get stains on without worrying about cost. Kitchen equipment was out on the counters, work papers scattered all over the dining table, and all the toys were stored into one chest box in the corner. It was nice, but foreign to Keith.

Nyma avoided the question, getting straight to what she needed to get off her chest. “Keith, I’m sorry.”

“Just- let’s sit down.” Keith pulled a chair out at the dining table, sitting down there. It would’ve felt to weird for him to sit on the couch with Nyma together. It’s strange to think they were technically still married a few months ago.

“Um, how is Leo doing?” Nyma was looking down at some of her papers on the table, organizing them, though it was probably just a way to avoid eye contact with Keith.

“He’s doing okay. But Nyma, I have to ask. What the hell happened?” The conversation was going a lot differently than Keith expected it to. He was planning on storming in and not giving Nyma time to get on the defensive. But the second he saw her, the features she and Leo shares popped out to him, and the apprehension that has plagued him this whole time came rushing back. This was Leo’s mother. Was he really willing to try to push her out of his life?

“How much do you know?”

“Just tell me everything, Nyma. I’m not mad, at least not yet. But I need to know why Lance found our son crying alone outside the daycare. And I need to know what the plan was if Lance wasn’t there. I need to know he would’ve been safe.”

“My partner was here. He saw Leo and thought he was some random kid trespassing on the property so he told him to go away and scared Leo away. I-” Nyma looked down as she continued, clearly upset. “I should’ve done more to stop that. I recognize that. But I was already on a tight place in terms of work, and telling Rolo I was a mother probably would get me fired. But-”

“You let our son run away from home to save your job?”

“I know it wasn’t right. But we are in a safe neighborhood, Keith. Nothing will happen to him. Nothing has happened to him.” Nyma was insistent, seemingly certain on this point. “Yes, he walks home, but I’m only like a block away, and I know he will be okay. And that way I can continue working so I can support him. You work ridiculous hours, too, but that’s just what it means to live here. Not all of us are as lucky with flexible schedules.”

“Just because he has been okay thus far doesn’t mean he always will be Nyma. And I’m not willing to take the risk with our fucking four year old. Don’t you get it. It just takes one day, one moment for someone to kidnap him!” Keith pushed his chair back against the table, needing more air. He ran his hands through his hair, pushing a little too strongly against his head.

“I promise that I’ll pick him up from the daycare from now on. I’m sorry, Keith.”

“Sorry isn’t good enough, Nyma. Do you even care about our son? The fact I have to come here and tell you to ensure Leo’s safety is fucked up as hell. At least you fucking had parents. You should’ve had some kind of inkling of what to do and what not to do when it comes to raising a child.”

Nyma shot up from her chair and approached Keith, sticking her finger out towards his chest. “Don’t you fucking dare bring my parents into this, Keith. I get you’ve had a hard life, and I know I will never truly understand what you went through. But you don’t know shit about what I went through growing up and you don’t get to use your orphan story to put me down like this. Of course I care about Leo, Keith. I get that what I did is wrong. But am I allowed no mistakes? For fucks sake, this whole thing was a mistake. We weren’t exactly preparing to be parents. We were barely preparing to graduate high school when I got pregnant.” Nyma eyes were dead locked on Keith’s, daring him to fight her on this. From the very beginning of their relationship, they had one agreement: never talk about family. And while that might have changed once Leo was a part of the picture, they always left their parents, and lack thereof, out of the equation.

Keith winced, realizing that he did go too far. But it was too late. The damage was done, and now they were both angry. A part of Keith, the majority of Keith, wanted to keep fighting. Wanted to get this all done today because he didn’t know if he could build the energy to do this again. But he can only drown out so much of Shiro’s sage advice before it became the voice of his conscious. And knowing that his older brother would be upset to see how things had escalated, Keith let out a breath and collapsed a bit upon himself. He didn’t apologize- his stubborn self wouldn’t allow him to do that much- but he did hope that Nyma understood what he couldn’t voice.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry, too.” At the very least, their time together did make them a lot better at communication.

“Nyma be honest with me. What is your actual job title? You said that if work found out you had a kid, you’d get fired. And while I know we keep our lives separate now, I feel like if it’s something that is going to affect Leo I have a right to know.”

“You’re going to get pissed. But I promise it isn’t as bad as it sounds.”

“It doesn’t matter if I’m going to get pissed or not. If you want to continue to be in Leo’s life, I need to know the truth. You owe that much.”

Nyma took a few steps away from Keith, looking down again. She took a deep breath, praying that this wouldn’t be the end of her relationship with her son, and decided to tell Keith the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of suspense... mainly due to the fact the chapter would have been really long if I finished the whole argument. I'm not really a huge cliffhanger person, tbh. 
> 
> ANyway!! I am back! I have survived the end of classes and my finals and somehow my GPA is doing okay. 
> 
> I am thinking about working on other klance fics. I have random headcanons for the garrison and some ideas for a college au, but not sure exactly what I'm going to do with them. I'm currently just trying to get back into writing oneshots/drabbles again, so that's something. I haven't decided if I prefer tumblr or ao3 for posting those yet, so... *shrugs* If you have any requests though, please send them to me because I love writing them out. :)


	13. Chapter 13

“I work for a bail bondsman. As a bounty hunter.”

Keith began to interrupt her, clearly distraught, but Nyma was quick to put her hands up, demanding to finish before Keith got to voice his opinion.

“It’s not like what you see on TV, not really. I mainly spend time researching the runaways, figure out where they are most likely to hide, convince them to meet me at restaurants, that sort of thing. Then I send Rolo after them and we split the profits. I get 7.5% of whatever their bail was. As long as I can keep working, I make a pretty decent living to support both myself and Leo. I don’t have control over my hours sadly, but I get to work from home most of the time. And I leave my home research for when Leo and I are together.”

“Isn’t that illegal? It doesn’t matter the hours or money if it’s illegal, I’m not going to  support what you’re doing.”

“Keith, give me some credit. I’m not supporting our son on drug money or anything like that. Like I get it, this is probably an example of how our judicial system is fucked or something. But, it’s legal and I make a good PI, so why not do something I’m good at?”

“Why the hell don’t they want you to have a kid then? Why was Leo running away from here, crying?” Keith understood why Nyma took the job. He would’ve done the same if he was in her shoes. Getting work without a college degree was hard, and doing one while trying to balance a schedule that allows you to take care of a toddler is even harder. But he wasn’t able to let Nyma off the hook. It still felt like she chose her job over Leo, and that was something he didn’t think he could get over very quickly.

“I- Well, they have this idea that I can’t be productive if I’m also a mother. My employers will think I’m distracted, and I won’t get hired anymore. And a reputation is all I really get to have in this line of work. Rolo will get mad because he will realize that the reason we switched to me doing mostly just investigating, and Rolo doing all the field work is cause I’m raising Leo, and then insist on getting a larger cut of the profits. He was already here complaining about that last week, saying that he puts in more time than I do, which is bullshit. Just cause I was wrong once about where the guy would be hiding doesn’t mean what I do means nothing. I save him hours every damn day.”

“Nyma.”

“Sorry, sorry. You don’t care about that. But when Rolo was here complaining about that the other day, Leo got here. I could have sworn it was your week with Leo, cause you picking him up the other day had me all messed up. But I didn’t really have control over Rolo showing up, he just barged in. But when Leo arrived, I- I couldn’t tell Rolo the truth. If he found out I was a mother, I’d be done. I would be out of any kind of income, Keith.”

“So you sent our child back onto the streets, again, with the risk of him getting kidnapped or something, just so that you could keep your job?”

“So I could keep putting food into his mouth, Keith! It’s not just a job. Not all of us are lucky enough to find a boss like Coran. You kept talking about how he was going to switch your hours and promote you to manager and all that shit, but I could barely find anyone willing to consider me the second they realized that I had a teen pregnancy. I finally found something that would provide me a decent amount of money and it wasn’t that hard to keep that one detail of my life secret since I worked from home, and it was working great.” Nyma took a deep breath and slowed down before continuing, “I’m never going to stop feeling guilty about what happened last week, and I’m never going to forgive myself, despite the relief that washed over me when Lance told me Leo was okay. But all things given, I probably would’ve made the same call even if I went back. I’m willing to change: I’ll go to pick him up from the daycare, and I’ll be more paranoid about his safety. But I’m not willing to just give up this job. It’s one of the few things I feel like I’ve gotten right.”

Keith wasn’t sure what to say in response to that. Was that enough? She promised to change, but is that enough? What she did was still inexcusable in his mind and it was something he couldn’t try to move past just like that. But she was trying, just like he was, and every person was entitled to make mistakes. But this was a mistake that directly hurt Leo. But Leo was her son as much as he was Keith’s. Keith couldn’t work this out on his own, not right now, not like this. He sighed, looking at Nyma, who was practically pleading with her look, wishing she could read minds.

“Nyma, I just, I don’t know. Leo took a while to even begin to be as comfortable with me as he used to. He was really quiet after this whole thing, and not just his normal pensive quietness. He was upset, and that broke my heart. I need to do what’s best for him.”

A small part of Nyma felt robbed. Her son was being taken away from her. Keith was an equal partner to her when it came to raising Leo. Just because she may not have caught Keith in his mistakes, doesn’t mean he didn’t make them. But she also knew better. Keith wasn’t doing this to attack her personally, despite how it might feel. He truly did always think about Leo’s needs first. Nyma fell in love with that.

“When would I be able to see him again?” Nyma asked hesitantly, as Keith began to shuffle around, as if to leave.

“I’m not sure yet. Just give it time.”

Nyma nodded, pulling her lips into a tight line. She began to show Keith out, silently following him and opening the door for him. She didn’t know if this actually helped her case at all, but at least Keith wasn’t leaving screaming. And the thing was, Keith wasn’t sure either.

****

By the time Keith arrived, it was dinner time, so he figured if Lance and Leo had already eaten, he would just go to McDonalds, or some other cheap fast food. When Keith entered Lance’s place after a faint “It’s open,” he saw Leo sitting at the kitchen table, arms both covered in flour as Lance opened various containers. The pair turned around when they heard the door open, and Leo immediately scrambled out of his seat towards his Papa, as Lance watched from a distance. Keith bent down to hug Leo, effectively getting flour all over his coat, but he didn’t really mind.

“What are you two making here?”

“We’re making pizza, Papa!”

Keith raised an eyebrow at Lance as he guided Leo back towards the kitchen to wash his hands, before he continued cooking. Keith then took off his coat, threw it on the back of a chair, and washed his hands as well.

“Hey Keith, sorry we got a bit of a late start on his dinner, ‘cause I forgot to consider prep time.”

“Lance, I can just order pizza. It’s okay.”

“No, why order? Making homemade pizza was one of my favorite things to do as a kid. Leo’ll love it.” A faint pop sounded as Lance opened the marinara sauce before he set it on the table.

“Papa, I wanna make pizza. I wanna make it!” Leo tried to reach for the tomato sauce jar, but Lance was smart to guard it with his hands to make sure he didn’t accidentally knock it off the table.

Keith stood next to Lance down, watching his son smell the tomato sauce, before putting it to the side to continue to roll out, or if we were being honest, play with his pizza dough. Keith eyed the plastic grocery bag sitting on the counter. “Did you buy all these ingredients? Lance, you already watched Leo as a favor for me. You shouldn’t be paying for dinner, too.”

“Relax, I only picked up like two things. Hunk and I like to keep the kitchen stocked anyway, so I was going to the store regardless. We got you some dough, too, so just enjoy yourself and make some pizza with us.” Lance reached into a small bag of flour next to him and began to create a small workspace for Keith on the table next to him. “Just roll out your dough into whatever shape you want. Just make sure it’s the same thickness the whole way ‘round.” 

“I’m making a dinosaur, Papa. He’s gonna have a huge neck.” Keith smiled at his son and could begin to see the shape that he was making, though it looked more like an eggplant at this point.

“Do you know what kind of dinosaurs have huge necks, Leo? The brontosaurus!”

Leo growled in response, causing the trio to all laugh afterwards. Leo did seem to be having a lot of fun right now, so Keith really did have to thank Lance. Leo continued to make jokes, or really just state random, occasionally incorrect facts, about dinosaurs, laughing through it, and Keith just wanted to bask in this moment.

Lance spoke up after a moment “Keith, you haven’t even taken your dough out the container yet.” He continued in a hushed voice, “Is it because of how your conversation with Nyma went? Are you okay?”

Leo was looking at them, and despite Lance’s quieter tone could probably hear them. He gave Lance a look that hopefully promised they would talk about this later, before saying in a cheerier voice, “No, I just want to see Leo make his pizza first before I make mine. He’s such an expert at this. Besides, then Leo’s pizza gets to be done first.”

Leo toothily grinned. “I wanna be first.”

“Are you ready to put some sauce on, buddy?” Lance put a spoon into the marinara sauce, and as Keith focused on his actions instead, he realized Lance barely had any flour on his fingers. He had barely begun to roll out his dough as well. Keith figured this was because he wanted to focus on Leo and make sure Leo didn’t make too big of a mess, which Keith appreciated enormously. God only knows how many hours he spends cleaning.

“He still needs a tail, silly.” Leo spent a little bit more time crafting out his pizza, and Lance patted it down to make sure it was all relatively even thickness before holding the sauce jar near Leo after giving him a first few spoons to begin spreading.

“I don’t want that much sauce. I want sooo much cheese.” Keith rolled his eyes slightly, before grabbed the bag of shredded mozzarella and opening it for when his son was ready. Leo soon dove his hands into the bag, grabbing two little handfuls of cheese, and dumping them unceremoniously onto his pizza.

“Leo, you want to put some veggies on your pizza?” Leo simply stuck out his tongue at Lance, as he preoccupied his hands with organizing the cheese on his pizza so it was at least partially evened out. “But don’t you need the dinosaur to be green? Here, you like green peppers. Let’s use those.”

Keith was surprised to say the least, because of how quickly Leo was willing to accept Lance’s logic and agree to it. Getting Leo to eat his greens was always a hassle, and often took more bargaining than not, but he was currently watching his son practically cover the pizza in green peppers, and one red slice ‘for the tongue.’ Lance was an actual godsend, and Keith wanted him to stay forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if anyone who doesn't live in the US reads this fic, but fun fact, we are one like of like two countries where being a bounty hunter is a legal practice. I'm not gonna get into the politics of it, but yeah, just throwing that out there.   
> Also this chapter hasn't been beta read, so I apologize if there were any issues. Feel free to let me know in the comments and I will edit. :) (thefivecrazypeople is still amazing but is busy with classes rn, so send good luck her way!)


	14. Chapter 14

Lance popped Leo’s pizza into the oven and set the timer, while Keith helped Leo wash up. Keith decided to set up the television for Leo while he and Lance finished up dinner, putting on Leo’s favorite movie, _Tangled._ The kitchen was next to their makeshift living room, so Keith could still keep an eye on his son.

“He watched that on the first day you dropped him off at the daycare.” Lance watched from the kitchen, waiting for Keith to finish up.

“It’s his favorite movie. His favorite character is-“

“Pascal, yeah. He told me.” Keith smiled softly, touched that Lance remembered small details about his son. “He didn’t really like me that much at first.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, he’s like, one of the only kids at the daycare who I wasn’t able to connect with, and I felt bad about that.” Lance began to actually flour his workspace and roll his dough out, not looking at Keith, who had taken up his spot next to him.

“He’s not that great with others. Like besides Shiro, he never really interacted with others prior to the daycare. I was actually really surprised how quickly he got along with Sofia and Ana. He’s only like that with family.” Lance stayed quiet, so Keith continued. “And hey, when we first met, it’s not like I thought we’d get along like this either. But you’re a good guy, Lance. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have grown on us like this.”

A smile emerged on Lance’s face, and he nudged Keith with his shoulder. “Okay, come on. Make your pizza, so we can put in ours at the same time.” Lance paused, falling into a comfortable silence with Keith, both rolling out their dough.

“What are you doing? Keith! No, no, no, no, no. You can’t do that!” Lance leaned over to grab Keith’s hands to stop the atrocity he was making.

“What? Is it too thin?”

“You’re making a square pizza! Are you kidding me?”

“What? They’re good. Besides, its quicker to roll out.”

“You’re sickening. I cannot believe we’re friends.”

“You’re just conforming to the norm. Why are pizzas even circles anyway?” Keith pushed Lance’s hands out the way before rolling out his pizza more – he was always a thin crust kind of person.

“Because that’s the perfect shape for sharing! Equal crust for everybody.”

“Lance, this is a personal pizza. Sharing isn’t exactly an issue.”

“If you don’t have crust on your pizza, how are you supposed to hold it?” Lance reached for the marinara sauce and began to spoon some out onto his pizza so he could spread it.

“With your hands, Lance.”

Lance just rolled his eyes in response, surprisingly letting Keith get the last word in. They both finished up their pizzas, with a few more comments from Lance regarding the ‘sinful’ nature of Keith’s, before Lance popped them both into the oven, setting a second timer on his cell.

“Leo’s just needs a few more minutes. Do you want to join him?”

Keith walked around the island in the center of the kitchen to watch Leo. Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder just escaped the flood, and were discussing their pasts around a campfire. Talking to Lance near a hot oven was as close as Keith would get to that fairytale, however.

“Actually, I was hoping I could talk to you about my conversation with Nyma. Shiro’s heard enough about her to last him a lifetime, and I kinda want a fresh pair of ears now that I have them.”

“Yeah, of course.” Lance didn’t want to ask about it, unsure if Keith wished to talk about it, but he’d be lying if it wasn’t secretly killing him.

“She’s a bounty hunter, Lance.”

“Holy shit! Like Dog? That shit is crazy! Maybe Nyma has a thing for bad hairc-” Lance stopped when he noticed the tight look on Keith’s face. “Sorry.”

“No, I mean you’re right. It is crazy. She said she doesn’t do anything physical, but what if one day she gets in over her head. Also, is that even an environment for Leo to be raised in? On career day at school in the future, is he just going to bring in photos from Top Gun?”

“Top Gun’s about Tom Cruz as a Navy pilot. Keith, have you never seen that movie?”

Keith waved his hand dismissively, and Lance made a mental note to show it to Keith someday. “I just don’t want Leo to grow up idolizing violence. I- I wasn’t exactly the most pacifist kid growing up, and I got in trouble pretty regularly, with suspensions in school being pretty common. I was this close to getting expelled. I think the only reason they pardoned me is ‘cause I only had like 2 weeks left anyway.”

“Well, do you trust Nyma?”

Keith raised his eyebrows at Lance, having not expected that question. “Why?” He asked, buying himself more time to think about Lance’s question.

“Well, the way I see it, is it depends on if you think you can take Nyma’s word. She said she doesn’t do anything violent and she cares about Leo. You have to decide if you believe that, and if it’s worth giving her a second chance.”

“It’s hard. I mean, we were married, Lance. Of course, I trusted her. I just, I don’t know if I still do. Maybe she isn’t violent, but someone she worked with screamed at Leo. He’s still facing the consequences of her job, whether she intends it or not. How do you look at someone in the face who is trying their best and just tell them it isn’t good enough?” Keith picked up a small napkin off the table and began ripping it in his hands, needing something to distract him. This was the root of his indecisiveness when it came to Nyma, and a decision he doubted he would ever feel sure about.

“I- That’s rough. Man, I don’t know, either. But hey, you don’t have to know today, right? Just take the next few days slowly. Maybe approach Leo with the idea of seeing his mom again. See how he reacts.”

Keith sighed softly, but nodded. Lance gave him a soft pat on the back before sitting down with Leo, as Rapunzel began to sing “I See the Light” on the screen before them. Keith decided to sit back and observe them, watching as Lance pulled a giggling Leo onto his lap and ruffled up hair. Lance was a lot wiser than he initial put on, and Keith couldn’t have been more thankful to have his support right now. It’s funny to think how far they have come in just a few weeks. Even with Hunk, Pidge, and Allura, Keith felt closer to this group of friends he made more than he ever would have thought possible.

The four singing voices, thanks to the two on the couch, came to a stop when the timer for Leo’s pizza went off, bringing Keith out of his thoughts to tend to the oven. The rest of the evening passed nicely like that, the three of them smiling and just genuinely enjoying themselves. And it was long overdue.  

****

Keith groaned as he rolled over in bed, suddenly and unwillingly awake. He rubbed his eyes as he tried to figure out what woke him up, before hearing his phone vibrating against his nightstand. He leaned over to try to grab it, but not without letting another animalistic noise slip out of his mouth. Waking up was always his least favorite part of the day.

He realized soon that it wasn’t just his alarm, but rather a call from Shiro. He just lost desired and deserves moments of blissful sleep for this.

“What, Takashi?”

“Well, good morning to you, too, my dear brother.”

“You made me lose sleep. I don’t wake up for work for another 15.”

“You’re working today?”

“Don’t I work every damn day? Just spit it out. Why did you call?”

“Well, I wanted to know if you still wanted to do today. I know things have been kind of stressful for you, and I don’t know if your plans might have changed given everything, but I think it could be nice for you to get out of the house and see everyone, right?”

“What’s today? What are you talking about?” Keith rubbed his face, taking his phone away from his face to look at the date. November 24th didn’t ring any bells.

“Keith, today’s Thanksgiving. Did you seriously not realize?”

“I realize you made me lose a lot more than 15 minutes, then.”

“Well, either way, you should consider coming over, Keith.”

“Who’s going to be there?”

“Well, so far I know Allura-“

“Your lover.”

“Shut up and never ever say that phrase again. I want to throw up.”

“Lover boy.”

“Nope, nope. I take it back. That is much worse. Would you just let me finish?” After a silent pause on the other end, Shiro decided to continue. “Allura is coming, and she said she may be bringing Coran, though it depends on if he’s back from his Nessie hunt, though I might’ve heard that wrong.”

“Nah, he left a week and a half ago, claiming if anyone in the world could find ‘his girl,’ it would be him. He worked a shift yesterday, though, so he’s back.”

“Well, he’ll definitely be an interesting addition then. Pidge and her brother Matt are coming. Hunk is going to be cooking, so at the very least, you shouldn’t want to miss that.”

“Is Lance going to be there?”

“And I’m the lover boy?”

“Oh, god. Nope, I hear it now. Don’t use that voice when you say it. It makes it a hundred times worse. And besides, Lance is just my friend.”

“Something you desperately needed, and may I just add, as the matchmaker responsible, you’re welcome.”

Keith rolled his eyes, refusing to take his brother’s bait and fight him on that one. “Is he coming or not?”

“I told him he should, and that he could bring his sister and niece cause that’s who he was initially going to spend Thanksgiving with, but I’m still not sure. I was going to call him next.”

“So, he gets the blessing of sleep but I don’t?”

“Even if you’re grumpy, you answer. Lance will not answer that phone until he is awake, and there’s no point in trying otherwise.” Shiro paused, before his voice returned through the line again, this time much softer than before. “And Keith?”

“Hmm?”

“Nyma may be coming. I know, I know it’s not ideal, but we did invite her a while ago, and there’s a strong chance she could’ve forgotten. I mean, you did. We can also just call her and tell her it’s not a good idea if she comes, but I figured that would be your call not mine.”

Keith sat up in his bed now, slumping against the headrest.

“I- I’ll figure it out. Thanks for letting me know.”

“And, Keith? If you need me to talk to her instead or something, I will. Whatever you need. I don’t want you to stress out over this.” _Too late,_ Keith thought, knowing he’d spend at least the next hour trying to figure out what the right call would be. But he also knew it wasn’t Shiro’s fault, and he was trying to get better at not taking things out on the wrong victim. He almost lost Lance that way.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll let you know. Thanks, bye.” Keith hung up the phone, and let his arm drop into his lap. He spent a few minutes just starring down at his phone, before quickly dialing Lance’s number. _Please let Shiro be wrong. Please pick up._

After the 3rd ring, Keith got fidgety. After the 4th, he figured it was a lost cause, but just couldn’t get himself to hang up yet. And after his voicemail message began to play, Keith listened to all of Lance’s ramble before finally hanging up. Keith sighed, and dropped his phone onto his bed, and his head into his hands.

Even though Lance was only a recent addition to Keith’s life, the feeling that he wasn’t going to help Keith with this decision made his stomach feel heavy. He tried to reason to himself, arguing that Lance wasn’t even a part of this, and that Keith didn’t need his opinion. But part of him felt wrong making it without at least consulting him.

But Keith didn’t have long to dwell on it, hearing Leo waking up through the thin wall. His duties as a father took over, and he sighed as he debated alone whether Nyma still deserved hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be fair, I published this while it was still Saturday in my time zone so...  
> Next chapter is Thanksgiving!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: Ana's husband name was changed to Richard (from Matthew to distinguish from Matt Holt).
> 
> Spanish to English Translations:
> 
> “Las tradiciones de tu familia no deben confiar en lo que dice o hace mamá.” - Your family's traditions shouldn't depend on what Mom says or does.  
> “Hoy se trata de la familia. No deberíamos celebrar si mamá no está aquí.” - Today is about family. We shouldn't celebrate if Mom is not here.  
> “Esa es la razón exacta por la que no viene. No eres mejor que ella. Al menos puedes ir para una otra fiesta.” - That's the exact reason she doesn't come. You're no better than her. At least go to another party.  
> “Cuyo?” - Whose?  
> “Es su decisión quedarse en casa, y no vamos a cambiar eso. Pero Miguel no debe ser forzado a perder la cena, tampoco.” - It's her decision to stay home, and we're not going to change that. But Miguel shouldn't be forced to miss dinner, either.
> 
> (Again I did my best with the Spanish I know and if you have any corrections, please let me know!)

By the time Lance woke up, he realized he had missed three calls and Hunk was already done with breakfast, though he still had his apron on.

“Do you know why Keith and Shiro would call me?” Lance asked as he reached past Hunk to grab the plate of food Hunk already made and set aside for him. He would deal with calling back his two friends and his sister after he had quieted his stomach a bit.

“Oh, Shiro called me too. He’s wondering what your plans are for today. Are you still planning on visiting your sister?”

“My sister invited my whole family to her place, and we were able to get my mom to come, so yeah, I’m definitely going there for dinner. She called me, too, so I should probably start getting ready to head over, ‘cause I promised to help her cook.”

“Oh, that’s great. I’m glad to hear that. Do you want me to let Shiro know while you call her back? And, I guess, Keith.” Hunk was busying himself in packing up items from the kitchen, planning on just cooking everything at Shiro’s place. Shiro’s place was easily the biggest, and thus was the de facto host for every and all group events. Lance did feel a bit bad, knowing that he would miss hanging out with all his friends, but he was excited to see his whole family together again.

“Yeah. Thanks, Hunk. I’ll just head over to Ana’s, that isn’t a problem. I’ll call Keith while I’m walking over there.” Lance put his plate into the dishwasher before throwing on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, and packing another change of clothes. Cooking on Thanksgiving always meant he waited to shower until everything was in the oven, but he would probably just shower at Ana’s, since heading back home felt like a waste of time.

“Hello?” Keith answered on the other side of the line.

“Hey, it’s Lance. I was wondering why you called this morning. I’m sorry, I was still asleep.”

“Yeah, Shiro said you’d probably be passed out still. It’s fine, though, Lance. I don’t need your help anymore. But thanks for checking in.”

“Are you sure?” Lance felt bad because of Keith’s dismissive tone. He wanted to be able to help him, but it’s not his fault he was asleep, either.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Are you heading to Shiro’s tonight?” Keith tried to sound nonchalant, but Lance felt there was more to it. Like Keith really wanted to ask something else. But Lance would let Keith ask only if he wanted to.

“Nah, I’m sorry. My whole family is planning on getting together to celebrate Turkey Day.”

“Oh, have fun with your family then. Ana is nice and Leo still talks about Sofia all the time. I’m sure the rest of your family is great, too.” Lance smiled at the compliment and thought about Keith meeting the rest of his family. Though he might not fit in as quickly as Hunk did, he was sure his family would like him, with Miguel probably wishing Keith was his older brother instead.

Before Lance could think twice, he quickly said, “Do you want to come to our dinner then? You’d be more than welcome.” Lance internally facepalmed, realizing how forward that was. He hoped Keith didn’t get weirded out by it.

“I- uh, I should probably be with Shiro. I mean, adoptive brother and all that.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Sorry.”

“Another time?” The fact Keith wasn’t completely shutting down Lance’s idea made him feel better, but he still felt a bit awkward.

“Yeah, sure. Do you need anything else? I just got to my sister’s place, and she’s probably gonna need me to put the phone down and start cooking.”

“No, that’s okay. Tell her I said hi or something. Bye, Lance.”

Lance hung up after that and took the elevator to his sister’s apartment. He quickly unlocked the door with his copy of the key, and opened it, to find Ana sitting on the couch, phone in her hands, instead of cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

“Mamá would kill you if she knew you didn’t start cooking yet.” Lance threw his duffel bag on the floor and began to look for an apron the kitchen drawers.

“It’d be hard for her to do that considering she isn’t coming.” Ana didn’t get up from her seat, instead just giving Lance a dejected look.

“What do you mean she’s not coming?”

“Did you not listen to my message?”

“I saw the missed call, but I figured it was just about me being late to help cook. What happened?”

“Miguel couldn’t convince her to drive over here with him. Last minute, she couldn’t do it. She said she can’t celebrate. That it’s mala suerte para celebrar sin él.” Ana imitated her mother, before slumping further into the couch.

“Should we go there then?”

“It’s not just the car, Lance. I mean, it’s not like she’s ever celebrated Thanksgiving since-“

“I know, Ana. I’m not stupid. I just-“ Lance shut up as Richard, Ana’s husband, walked into the room with their twins, Sofia and William.

Lance smiled as he greeted his niece and nephew, hugging them, before greeting Rich as well. Though it started a bit forced, he eventually did get more accepting and comfortable with Richard as he showed how dedicated he truly was to Ana. And besides, one of the advantages was that he was still new to learning Spanish, so at the speed Lance spoke to his sister, he was able to have private conversations with her.

“Las tradiciones de tu familia no deben confiar en lo que dice o hace mamá.” Lance gestured towards the twins, hoping that if he spoke to Ana as a mother instead of a sister and daughter that she would change her mind.

“Hoy se trata de la familia. No deberíamos celebrar si mamá no está aquí.”

“Esa es la razón exacta por la que no viene. No eres mejor que ella. Al menos puedes ir para una otra fiesta.”

“Cuyo?”

“Shiro is having a Thanksgiving dinner and you guys should come. I want to spend today getting stuffed on food with people I care about, so if we aren’t making dinner here, then I’ll go there. The game will be on, also, if you at least want to come for that.” Lance directed what he was saying at his brother-in-law more than his sister, figuring he could convince him instead. Whereas their family didn’t have a strong tradition of Thanksgiving, Richard always did. And even if he wasn’t going to family, Lance doubted he’d willingly give up the idea of joking with people about some football player while drinking beer and eating turkey.

“Oh, that sounds great. Ana, would you like to?” Richard looked over at his wife, who was conflicted.

“You know, Leo, Keith’s son, really misses Sofia. They could hang out again. And this time William could meet him, too.”

Ana sighed, putting her hands into the air in resignation, but smiled. “Okay, okay. We’ll come. I have a stocked fridge with stuff I was planning on making, so tell Hunk I’ll join him in the kitchen and I’ll bring this food over. We’re probably going to have a ton of leftovers.”

“It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving if we didn’t. I’ll call Miguel and ask if he wants to come over.”

“And leave Mamá by herself?”

“Es su decisión quedarse en casa, y no vamos a cambiar eso. Pero Miguel no debe ser forzado a perder la cena, tampoco.”

****

“Keith, are you on your way yet?”

“No. You’re going to make me set up while you play with Leo. You do this every time you host dinner. I’m waiting until dinner is supposed to start before coming over.” Keith was in the middle to reading to Leo when Shiro called, but Leo looked expectedly when he heard his name, distracted from flipping through the pages. Keith smiled down at his son and put the phone on speaker, allowing Leo to listen in.

“Hi, Uncle Shiro!”

“Hi, Cowboy. How are you?”

“’M good.”

“Leo, tell your papa you want to come play with me. Keith, Hunk and Allura are already here. Plus, Pidge needs a ride. Could you just come now and pick her up?”

“Okay, yeah. Fine. I’ll get Leo ready and head over.” Leo was grinning ear to ear as he jumped up from his spot between Keith’s legs to grab his shoes near the door and try to put them on.

“Good. Now I can tell you the good news.”

“What’s the good news?”

“Lance is bringing his family over. They’re all coming.”

“Wait, what? I thought he was celebrating with them.”

“Well, they’re coming over now. If you head over, you get to be here for introductions. Apparently it’s more than just his sister and niece we met during Halloween. Leo, you get to see Sofia again.”

Despite somehow getting his shoes on the wrong feet, Leo was jumping up at that, reaching for the door knob and repeatedly asking Keith, “Can we go yet?” as quick as his mouth could move.

“Okay, okay. Thanks, Shiro. We’ll be there in twenty with Pidge.”

“Is Nyma c-“ Shiro began to ask, but before he could even finish the question, Keith had hung up. And while Keith didn’t intentionally hang up on Shiro, already in the motion of hanging up before he processed that Shiro was speaking to him, he couldn’t help but be glad he avoided talking about it. Even if it was just a delay of the inevitable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a lot shorter than normal, and I'm sorry about that. I aim for 2k each chapter, and I know this is a few hundred short, but I wanted to have the celebrations together, so I figured this would be a better place to stop. 
> 
> Also, while I've always planned on editing this story after I finished it, to consolidate chapters more based off themes and flow, as opposed to how much I can expect myself to be able to write in a week, I'm planning on beginning to work on this now. I haven't decided whether or not I'll save updating the published version until after its all done or what, but as I've reread previous chapters, I've definitely noticed some things that need to be clarified or just completely edited. I'm just putting this notice here, because 1) if you have a preference, feel free to let me know and 2) if you see the chapter count go down or notice other edits, you'll understand why.
> 
> In other news: Did you guys see the newest released preview of s3? Cause I am shooketh.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: This chapter was edited to clear up some dialogue and consistency with Richard.

“Papa! Look, it’s Uncle Lance.” Leo pulled at his father’s pant leg before immediately letting go once he saw Sofia. He ran over to her, and between Shiro’s legs (who thankfully didn’t drop the stack of plates he was holding), but stopped short, clearly not sure of what to do. Sofia immediately grinned, though, and pushed the toy car in her hands into Leo’s.

“Let’s race!” Sofia immediately called to action, not shaken by her new environment at all. She just seemed to radiate energy.

“Wait for me,” William called, impatiently reaching into his mother’s bag to pull out a matching toy car, though his had been covered with puppy stickers.

Leo, surprisingly, didn’t seem surprised by the addition of a new kid and immediately plopped himself down and began to push, or more accurately throw his car down the foot path.

“Okay, okay, guys. Let’s move this, okay? We don’t want anyone to trip,” Ana spoke up, ushering her kids and Leo past the doorway and towards the side of the living room. While Shiro grabbed the bags of food they brought, Keith walked closer. There were three new faces in the room now, and Keith was hoping how things went with Ana would be reflective of how easily he would get along with the other members of Lance’s family. Keith never was great at first impressions, especially when it came to families, but for the first time in a long time, he could feel himself caring about their opinions of him.

“Keith! Okay, so this is Ana’s husband, Richard, and that was Sofia’s twin brother, William. And this,” Lance said, while pulling the taller man next to him into a loose chokehold, “is my younger brother Miguel.”

Keith took a moment to process who they were. Richard looked kind of out of place, being short for Lance’s family, even if he was average height, and much fairer in skin. He also seemed less comfortable than any of the McClains. Keith found some kind of solace in that, knowing at least someone else mimicked his emotions. Miguel, on the other hand, had about an inch on Lance, despite being younger, and was a bit darker in skin tone. With whatever was in their genes, Keith was sure that one of Lance’s parents had to be a giant. They were all leg.

“It’s nice to meet you all.” Keith waved kind of awkwardly, looking at Lance for help. But before Lance could help him out, Pidge came into the room and greeted the newcomers.

“I just saw Ana in the living room, so I figured you got here. Hey Rich. And Miguel, right?” At his nod, Pidge continued. “I just set up the football game in the living room, if you want to go watch it. Otherwise, I’m thinking about hijacking Shiro’s other room and doing an X-files marathon.”

"You know how big of a football fan I am. I'll be in there if you need me." Richard excused himself, eager to see the action. Richard vaguely reminded Keith of a foster parent he had when he was younger. He couldn't remember was he looked like, much less his name, but Keith remembered hearing the cheers and screams to the sound of ESPN announcers every Monday evening. Once he even convinced Keith to watch it with him, but quickly changed his mind after deeming Keith as a token of bad luck. His superstitions against Keith led to him never gaining a fondness for the sport.

Miguel spoke up, pulling Keith out of his trip down memory lane. “I’m so down for the X-files, if you can get that running.”

“Shiro owns them all ‘cause I binge them so much here. They're in his bookcase, hidden near the bottom.”

“Nice! Keith, right? I do the same thing, too. I've probably watched the original series four times over now. I can feel it, dude. This is gonna be the start to an amazing friendship. What’s your favorite season?”

As Miguel began to discuss the different season arcs and their favorite episode plot lines, Keith began to smile, realizing this was not as stressful as he thought it would be. They continued their conversation for a bit, with Pidge joining in to discuss her favorite moments, and a few scenes that went against her alien research (Keith scoffed at that, but made a mental note to ask just how much research she'd done), when Keith noticed Lance drifting off somewhere else. He excused himself and headed over to Lance.

“Lance, why did you end up coming here? What happened to dinner with your family?”

“Plans with my mom fell through, but I figured since Shiro was still holding dinner and the fact Hunk had definitely over ordered on the food, a few more guests wouldn’t hurt. Why, is it weird?”

“No, no. I’m glad I got to meet them. I’ve wanted to see Ana again since Halloween. And Miguel seems really cool.”

“I knew you two would get along. Just don’t replace me for him now. Even if he is cooler.” Though Lance was trying to play it cool, there was a part of him that did always feel that way. That Miguel was better than him. That, if given a choice, he wouldn’t be people’s first choice.

“Lance, stop being dumb. I’m always going to choose you. Besides, who else is going to flirt with me at seven in the morning when I’ve gotten maybe three hours of sleep?” Lance pushed Keith’s arm slightly at that, figuring Keith would drift away from him after that to socialize with other people, but he stayed near Lance’s side, asking Lance to tell him more about his family and quietly listening to him. Lance recounted various stories, starting with a few that Miguel found embarrassing, but eventually just falling into a comfort of talking about their backyard, the neighbor's old dog who Lance was pretty sure existed for the sole purpose of terrorizing squirrels, his favorite beach, the rain, Cuba. Home. Before--.

Lance hadn't realized how soft his voice had trailed nor how he became comfortable enough to talk about these things in the first place. But he felt safe next to Keith. With the way he seem enraptured in Lance's story, in Lance himself. This moment could have lasted for the whole night, and it wouldn't have been long enough. It reminded him of their night under the projected constellations- oh, how distant that seemed now- and Lance smiled at the memory. He couldn't put a word to what he was feeling. But it was warm.

****

They were interrupted when Shiro came over to them, looking intent on talking with Keith. Keith grimaced as he realized what Shiro wanted to talk about, and regretted that he was still next to Lance. Lance was unsure what was going on, looking between the brothers, hoping to be filled in on the silent conversation. 

Luckily for Lance, though not so much for Keith, Shiro decided to use his voice to ask the question on his mind. “Keith, what did you end up doing about Nyma? Is she coming or not?”

“Wait, Nyma was invited?” Lance pipped in.

“I, uh. Well, I didn’t know what to do. I figured it was her choice. If she wants to come, let her. It would show she wants to see Leo, right?”

Shiro nodded at that, agreeing with the logic. He wouldn’t have opposed any choice that Keith made, knowing that it was Keith’s to make, but he did want to prepare himself for what would happen.

“Keith, like I know it’s not my place, but why didn’t you talk to me about this? This is a super bad idea. You need to call her and tell her not to come.” Lance ran his hands through his hair, before sneaking a glance over at his best friend, who was currently laughing to something Matt was telling him. Probably an embarrassing story about Pidge, or some story about one of their old engineering professors.

“Why?” 

“Hunk really doesn’t like Nyma. He always felt kind of on edge about her, and then after everything that happened between Leo and her jumping in front of my car-“

“Wait, she did what?” Shiro asked. But even though Shiro was the one who interrupted, it was obvious the words were on the tip of his tongue as well. He never knew this.

“Guys, hat’s not the point. She just wanted to know that Leo was safe and stuff. I know that sounds super dramatic, but-“

“No, that’s- I’m so sorry, Lance. I didn’t realize she brought you into this.” Keith suddenly felt really uncomfortable, not knowing what to do with his hands. He clenched and released them a few times, trying to dissipate the feelings beginning to build up within him.

“It’s not me I’m worried about. I just don’t want things to escalate during dinner.”

"I'll second that," Shiro said. "Keith, are you sure you don't want to just call her and tell her not to come?"

“I mean, I can’t uninvite her now, though. Can I? It’s so late. Besides, we don’t even know that she’s going to show up. And I told her I wanted her to try to prove that she’s going to make changes for Leo and show how much she cares for him. If I tell her she can’t come, then I’m not even giving her a chance.”

“You’re just trying to avoid talking to her, more than you trying to avoid any problems.” Even though Shiro was always a bit of a nagging older brother to Keith, it was moments like these, when he said things like that, that Keith couldn't help but nickname The Dad Moments. And God, did Keith hate them.

“ _Takashi_ , that’s not what’s happening here. I’m trying to give the mother of my son benefit of the doubt. I don't know if Nyma being here is a good idea or not. But I know it’s not a good idea for me to call her and make the decision for her. Let’s just leave it and see. I’m sorry if Hunk gets uncomfortable, but she’s still Leo’s mother, and at least this is a group setting, right? He never has to talk to her directly if he doesn’t want to.”

Lance put his hand on Keith’s back and rubbed small circles to try to help him calm down. It was an unconscious moment, something he didn’t realize he was doing until it was happening, and he would tell Ana that every time she brought it up in the future. And the second Lance did realize what he was doing, he would’ve stopped. But Keith seemed to be calming down, and he gave a small smile to Lance. And there was no way Lance was going to deny Keith at that point.

Shiro seemed to have eased as well, deciding to drop the conversation, “I’m okay with whatever decision you make, Keith. If you’d like, I can give Hunk a warning.” Keith just nodded slightly, not really caring much about that at this point. He didn’t think a warning would really prevent that much if she did show. The pair watched Shiro walk towards the kitchen in silence for a few moments, before Keith spoke up again, sounding much more tired than they had been moments prior.

“Thank you, Lance. I’m sorry about all of this.”

“Hey, don’t apologize. It’s all good.”

“When I called you this morning, I was going to ask about what you thought I should do. And when you called back, I already decided inaction was the easiest choice. I guess I tend to do that in general. I should’ve still gone to you.”

“Dude. Relax. Nyma coming isn’t the equivalent to Pompeii or anything. Yeah, it might make things awkward, but how bad could things get?” Keith nodded and hoped Lance would be right.

****

“God, Hunk. Can you adopt me?” Keith moaned as he shoveled the food on his plate straight into his mouth. If he could think past the flavors exploding in his mouth, maybe he would realize he was being a little rude, but right now he just needed to make sure he tried everything. The turkey was delicious, the mash potatoes were buttery goodness, Keith didn’t even like green beans, but somehow the way Hunk steamed them was perfect and Keith couldn’t get enough.

“Keith, you’re a grown adult. And you have a son. And a brother who’d probably love to mother hen you more than I would,” Hunk replied from his seat at the head of the table. Everyone had insisted upon this position, given that it was his meal and he should be the honored guest. 

“I wanna live with Hunk and Lance!” Leo chimed in from his spot on Keith’s lap. Due to the limited table space, and only having so many chairs in Shiro’s apartment, all the kids were on their parents’ laps, with Sofia on Ana and William on Rich. The table was crowded and lopsided, the group having an uneven number of guests, due in part of the bittersweet fact that Nyma had not showed up.

Prior to today, Keith would have assumed Lance would try to take the other head of the table, where Sofia and Ana currently resided, to bask in the attention that apparently came with that seat. But Lance was seated next to Keith, right in the middle. And Keith realized, it fit him much more, as he was able to talk to everyone comfortably, whether it be a discussion of Coran’s time breeding worms (“They’re superb decomposers, Keith. Quite a fascinating creature. And we’ve created special breeds of dogs from wolves. Don’t worms deserve the same?”) or Miguel’s senior year in high school, a conversation during which Keith decided to stay quiet during.

“You heard him, Hunk. It’s out of my hands, now. Leo decided.”

“Hunk, you can’t look at that face and say no,” Lance said, backing up the father-son duo, leaning over and ruffling Leo’s hair. “He can have my room. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Wait, if Keith can use Leo as a trump card, can I use Sofia and William? Because I’ve been trying to learn how to cook ever since our abuela saw me pick up a spoon, and I couldn’t get close to this masterpiece.”

“It’s just seasoning, Ana. I’d expect Pidge or Matt to ask me what seasoning is, not you guys.”

“Hey! I’d like you to know that even if Pidge can’t eat anything spicy, I am gladly enjoying this dinner. Thank you, Hunk.” Matt spoke up, defending his honor. Shiro rolled his eyes, knowing his friend too well to know he wasn’t much better than his little sister. But Shiro also knew the pair well enough not to jump head first into any sibling quarrels.

“I’m pleading the fifth.” Pidge put her hand in the air as if being sworn into an imaginary court room. 

“Pidge, I have a four-year-old son who’s eating better than you are.” Keith estimated that Pidge’s plate had to have about a pound of mash potatoes on it. Her being incredibly picky wasn’t much of a surprise to Keith, though he did assume she’d eat more than just starch. But her favorite dessert was just straight frosting, so the fact she’s still alive and functioning should be enough. Healthy was a bit more debatable.

“But I’m an adult. I made this choice. I weighed the options, and being happy came first.” With that, Pidge dug a huge fork full of mash potatoes into her mouth and moaned to make a point of it. Which only led to the three children at the table deciding Pidge was the perfect role model (Oh God, Keith needs to spend less time with her) and shoving their faces full as well and giggling as their parents tried to ensure they didn’t choke.

Despite the near accident, this night was probably the happiest Keith had been in a long time. Maybe even ever. He was surrounded by his family and friends- a plural which was fairly new to him- eating a wonderful meal. Even the people he had only met were great company. They were all laughing and ribbing each other, as if this was something they did all the time, almost like this was a tradition. Maybe this would become a Thanksgiving tradition. The holiday had never felt complete in the past to Keith, and as he grew older, he didn’t know if he could ever experience a warmth that filled more than just his stomach. But now, now he finally felt he had a family to fill a table and smile with. He was starting to get a Hallmark-esque feeling and it permanently stuck a smile to his face.

Or it did.

A knock came upon the door, before a voice carried through the wood. And to be completely honest, Keith couldn’t have even told you what it said. Because the second the first word hit his ear, he recognized the voice, and one bitter reminder flooded his mind. The reminder that became his mantra as he moved foster home to foster home, that harmed any attempt at social interaction, that he had spent the past few months trying to move away from.

All good things must come to an end.

And today’s end just happened to come with Nyma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I was going to fit this all in one chapter, but apparently Thanksgiving is a 3-chapter ordeal now. And I thought Halloween was going to be the big holiday.  
> Also, it's 20 minutes to midnight as I write this, but this chapter has been more than halfway done since last Saturday. I got distracted editing/beta-reading someone else's klance fic that I forgot to edit and publish my own. But I am technically not late, so take that. 
> 
> ...It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without some family drama right?


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh,, guess who's back from the dead?

Shiro got up to open the door, quietly, while Keith quietly explained that Nyma was Leo’s mother to the table. He mentally crossed his fingers, hoping this wouldn’t become a scene. At the very least, he wanted to leave a good first impression on Lance’s family.

Lance, on the other hand, just looked over at Hunk, trying to silently send him the message to stay calm. He knew Hunk’s passion about this issue was because he cared about Keith and Leo and wanted to protect them, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t get a bit out of hand sometimes. But Hunk didn’t meet his gaze.

“Sorry, I know it’s in bad taste to arrive late, but I’m hoping I can make up for it. I brought pie,” Nyma said, as she stepped through the door. She nervously smiled, trying to sound upbeat as she presented the pie in her hands to the room. It was a raspberry cream pie, and Keith couldn’t help, but smile a little bit. It was a dumb little thing they’ve always shared, but it made Keith feel better knowing that she was also nostalgic.

“Well, thank you, Nyma. I’ll put them next to the other ones. We already started eating, but please help yourself.”

“Thank you, Shiro. It’s good to see you again.” Nyma awkwardly began to make her plate as slowly conversation began to start around the table, as Lance’s family began to chat, and Pidge, Matt, and Coran began to debate the logistics of aliens living among them. Hunk stayed silent, and Keith could feel Lance’s eyes drilling holes into him, making him ridiculously uncomfortable. Keith was more worried about Leo, but he was still eating, either not noticing Nyma, or simply not caring. Keith wasn’t sure, but he hoped for the latter.

“How are things?” Keith asked Nyma, hoping that getting involved in a conversation would at least get him out of his thoughts. Plus, he’d start to seem strange if he stayed mute for the rest of the dinner.

“I’m doing well. Oh, and Keith, I found your old MCR shirt in the house today. Do you still want it?”

If the situation was any different, Lance would be failing at stifling a laugh right then. But Pidge didn’t want to miss the roast opportunity, and immediately dropped her conversation the second she heard what Nyma said.

“Keith, you were an MCR fan. Oh. My. God.” Pidge didn’t even phrase the first part as a question, immediately jumping to accepting the fact and accusing him of it.

“I just had one of their t-shirts. It fit well. Sue me. I got it forever ago.”

Shiro smirked over at Keith, eyes twinkling. “You weren’t saying that when you cried the day they broke up. You were seconds away from becoming an arsonist, if you ask me.”

At this point, the whole table was listening in on this conversation, laughing. Even Hunk and Nyma seemed much more comfortable at this point, with the latter even joining in on the group conversation.

“You suggested Gerard as a baby name for Leo.”

“It’s a good name! Don’t roast me like this!”

“Good name? Really, Keith? That’s the best defense you can think of?” Lance chimed in, chuckling.

“Papa, you were gonn’ name me Gerard?” Leo scrunched up his nose, looking up at his dad. “I like Leo better.”

“Keith, back in high school, your brother invited me over your place, and you were scream singing _Teenagers_ so loud we could hear you down the hall,” Matt added.

Keith flushed. “Wait! You’re the same Matt from high school. Like Shiro’s first boyfriend Matt?”

“Wait, you didn’t know?” Shiro sounded more confused than shock, not realizing that Keith didn’t put the connection together.

“Hey, to be fair you were in high school like centuries ago. Sorry I can’t remember the stone age.”

“It was the bronze age at least,” Matt said at the same time Shiro said, “Barely a decade, don’t be so dramatic.”

“Wait, so have I secretly known Pidge this whole time?” Keith looked over at Pidge, trying to remember if he knew Matt had a little sister or not.

“I used to go by Katie, if that helps at all.”

“Honestly, no, I don’t remember. Feels like forever ago. Sorry.” After Pidge simply shrugged, Keith looked over at Matt and Shiro. “It’s cool you guys stayed this close over all those years though.”

“Well, we actually only reconnected recently again, because of Pidge’s job at the daycare, actually.”

“I am a gift sent from the gods, yes. Thank you for acknowledging this.” Pidge nodded at her brother, while he just rolled his eyes in response, and began to protest that, _no, he wasn’t saying that._

Shiro cleared his throat slightly and looked over at Nyma. “So Nyma, how have you been? Keeping busy, I’m guessing.” He gave a light laugh, hoping to reference the fact she was late, but the mood immediately dropped a little bit. Keith bit his lip, realizing it was his fault, for not telling Shiro everything yet.

“I’m sorry for being late again. I just had to wrap up some things for work.”

Hunk scoffed at this now, looking down at his food, clearly upset by what Nyma said. Nyma’s head snapped up in his direction, looking over the table. “I’m _sorry_ we all don’t have the luxury of working jobs that give us Thanksgiving off.”

“Nyma, please,” Keith quietly begged, hoping to get her to settle down and keep the dinner a bit more peaceful. He reached his hand across the table to grab hers, squeezing it gently, hoping she would relax. He let his eyes drift over at Lance’s family and winced at the expressions he saw. He didn’t want this to be their first impression.

“Keith, don’t bother. It’s not like she listens to you anyway. Otherwise, she’d actually be there for Leo,” Hunk said under his breath, but given the fact the room was silent, everyone heard him.

Shiro audibly sucked in air in response, while Nyma’s chair scrapped against the floor as she stood up. But instead of addressing Hunk, she looked over at Keith who had a visibly upset Leo on his lap. He was pouting, his lower lip shaking slightly, eyes wide as they watched her, food forgotten in front of him. Seeing Leo’s face, she immediately deflated, quietly sitting back into the chair, dropping the subject all together.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I’m not perfect, and I probably lost any chance of gaining your trust, and I get that. But this is also something that’s between our family, and I just came because I wanted to see Leo and have a nice Thanksgiving. But if you don’t want me here, I’ll leave.”

While Shiro began to open his mouth, Allura actually spoke up first, despite staying quiet for most of this chaos. “No, Nyma. You are more than welcome to stay. Please don’t leave. And Hunk, do apologize.”

Hunk did feel bad, to an extent. In retrospect, he realized he shouldn’t have done this during their dinner. But he also wasn’t comfortable with pretending things were normal. He muttered a quiet apology, and excused himself to the bathroom. He just needed some space.

Lance watched Hunk get up and go, but could tell by the look on his face he didn’t want to have a conversation just yet, so he sat quietly and finished up the few remaining portions on his plate.

Coran cleared his throat, and announced, “Well, I’m stuffed like a Calamari kebab, so I think I’m just about ready for dessert. Should I start bringing out the pies?”

After most of the table agreed, Travis, Matt, and Shiro began to help clear the dishes as Lance helped Coran bring the pies to the table. The rest of them sat there, quietly chatting, and Nyma tried to eat her dinner quickly, as to try not to hold everyone up. Leo, Sofia, and William got up and began to play with their toy cars again, not having the control to sit at the table quietly for much longer.

“You know, lad, the best thing to do with your emotions is confront them.”

Lance looked at Coran quizzically, not really sure what he was talking about. Sure, the last few minutes stressed Lance out, and he was still a bit worried, but he didn’t feel as if he was avoiding any of it.

“What do you mean? I’m pretty in touch with my emotions, pal.”

“Hm? And what about Keith?”

“What about Keith?”

“What’s the quote from Mulan? Hunk had just insisted on showing me that movie. Ah, yes! ‘You don’t meet a man like that every dynasty.’”

“Coran, what are you talking about? Keith and I are just friends. Besides, he’s straight. I mean, he was holding Nyma’s hand and everything. He probably still has feeling for her.”

Coran shrugged in response, “Maybe so. ‘The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of them all.’”

“Coran, do you even know what these Mulan quotes mean? I swear to god you’re just throwing out some phrases here, man.”

“Well, ‘let’s get down to business’ and deliver these pies.” Lance rolled his eyes and followed Coran quietly, carrying out two of the pies.

Hunk returned from the bathroom and sat down quietly, but still seemed a bit distant for the rest of dessert. Pies were cut up and divided amongst them, but just like with the rest of the food, there was a surplus of this as well. The kids sat down for long enough to eat their small slices of pie before immediately racing off to play some other game, while the rest of them chatted quietly.

Lance watched as Nyma and Keith, who both took slices of the raspberry cream pie, swapped halfway through. Nyma ate most of the cream in the pies, while Keith at the sour raspberry filling, with Leo sneaking in to ask for a bite, even though they had already given him a small slice. Keith teasingly put some of the cream on his son’s nose and stuck out his tongue, and Leo giggled and wiped it off, before stealing a forkful of the pie from his father.  Lance wasn’t sure why he was watching them, (he blamed it on Coran getting in his head) but he couldn’t pull his eyes away. They really did seem like a family in that moment. And for some reason, it hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I ended up taking such a long leave from this fic. It really wasn't planned, but life gets like that sometimes. I still don't know if I'll be able to go back to the weekly updates I have been doing, but I got a chance to wrap up this chapter today, and since I really liked the ending I figured I'd continue and come back to post. I hope that I will be able to write more, but please no high expectations. 
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter, and what you want to happen in the future! (I've gotten a few recommendations from people that were/in the process of getting integrated into the story, so who knows).


	18. Chapter 18

Lance seemed… off. Keith hadn’t seen him since he left the Thanksgiving celebration five days ago, because he was worried about bothering him more. He didn’t know what set him off- they seemed to be getting along great earlier that day, but towards the end of the evening, Lance became more distance. Keith hoped Lance wasn’t upset at him, and he really hoped that it wasn’t a result of his spending more time with Nyma.

But Keith was going with Nyma today to drop off Leo, and he hoped that would go without a hitch. Lance was his friend (a concept that was still very bizarre to him), and he hoped his giving Nyma a second chance wasn’t going to ruin anything between them.

He would’ve expected that more from Hunk given everything that had happened, not Lance. But Hunk still texted him a new no oven cookie recipe for him to try with Leo and was generally in a happier mood when he left. It’s Lance he hadn’t heard from still.

Keith decided to just try to go through the interaction as normal as possible, hoping that nothing would be awkward. He didn’t know how else he could approach it. At the end of the day, Little Lions was still going to be Leo’s daycare, and if Lance ignored him, Keith needed to make sure he could at least still be civil around him.

After getting Leo ready, Keith put on a pair of shorts and a loose t-shirt and grabbing a small protein bar for breakfast. Given that Coran decided to give him the day off, and he hadn’t been to the gym in too long for comfort, Keith decided to embrace the free time, though he knows Shiro would probably scold him for not resting. Keith was 80% sure that the 8 hours of sleep a night thing was a myth anyway.

“Keith, are you ready to go?”

Keith looked over at the front door which Nyma’s voice just passed through. He picked Leo up from the floor where he was playing with his toy cars, and headed out the front door to meet Nyma. Nyma held out her arms for Leo, but Keith just asked her to lock up the door behind him. While Leo did not get upset during Thanksgiving, Keith was still nervous about handing him over to Nyma just yet. This was his way of being careful about the situation, even though he didn’t mean to make Nyma feel bad. He just didn’t know how to make this decision about Nyma alone, but it felt like he couldn’t really go to anybody else.

“Papa, are you picking me up tonight?”

“Yes, cheonsa. If you want, I can get you early.” Keith ruffled Leo’s hair slightly as he adjusted him within his car seat and buckled him in.

“No, Papa. Lance said I could finger paint today since I stay late. Please, I want to finger paint.”

Keith chuckled. While he wasn’t going to lie, it hurt a bit to hear that his son didn’t want to spend extra time with him, he was happy to know he was feeling comfortable at his daycare and getting used to spending time apart from him. Keith just wished the time didn’t go so fast. That Leo still needed him like he did only moments ago. He always rolled his eyes when he heard this as a kid, but they really do grow up fast.

Keith got into the passenger seat as Nyma took the driver’s side. He looked over at her as she pulled away from the curb and towards the daycare.

“You’re okay if I pick him up tonight?”

“Yes, it’s your day off. You should spend time with him.” Nyma’s took a breath before adding, “And I want you to take as much time as you need.”

 _Before you trust me again. Before you let me watch Leo again._ It went unsaid, but Keith nodded, not wanting to say more on the topic. He really didn’t know how much time it would take, so there was nothing he could really say to ease Nyma’s feelings.

“Papa?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you come finger paint with me? Uncle Lance and Uncle Hunk paint with us too!”

Keith turned in his seat to smile at his son. He nodded with a small smile on his face. At least his son still wanted to spend time with him, even if he didn’t need him. Keith knew it would probably be awkward with Lance, but this moment all he really cared about was keeping a smile on Leo’s face, and getting to spend as much time with his son while he could.

When they got to the daycare, all three of them got out of the car to enter the daycare. Lance was waiting near the front this time, given how much later they were dropping off Leo. But Keith had a day off, and he was going to take some time to sleep in.

Lance’s eyes seemed to widen at the sight of them, but he quickly put on a smile and bent down to greet Leo and help him take off his coat.

“Hi buddy! How are you?”

“Papa said he would come to finger painting today! Is that okay?”

“Yeah, of course buddy. Do you want to go create the Lego spaceship today? I found the missing piece you needed.”

“Yeah!” Leo ran off in the direction of the Lego bins, immediately dumping out the bin, and searching through the pieces, putting the spaceship guide absentmindedly to the side.

“Thanks, Lance. I appreciate it,” Keith said, finally getting Lance’s attention. Lance looked up with a more fake smile than Keith was really prepared to see, but he tried to ignore it. He couldn’t dwell on it right now.

“Well, you know. It’s my job,” Lance lightly joked, shrugging. “You don’t have to do anything; you guys can go off to do whatever you’d like.”

“Well, if you can’t tell, I’m planning on hitting the gym for the first time in centuries,” Keith laughed, gesturing towards his outfit. He felt weird standing in front of Lance in just an old t-shirt, basketball shorts, and his workout gloves, but its not like it would’ve made sense to wear something else.

When Lance didn’t say anything for a moment, Keith asked, “Is Hunk here? I was hoping I could ask him about the recipe he sent me. Something about like condensed milk. Don’t really know what the heck that is.”

Lance seemed to blink a few times before responding to Keith, “Uh, yeah, yeah. He’s in the back. Sorry.”

Nyma watched as Keith walked into the daycare, before letting out a laugh at Lance. Lance sent her a look, upset at her laughter, but also questioning it.

“Oh, come on. You’re pathetic, Lance.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You literally had to be snapped out of starring at Keith in his shorts. Just ask the man out.”

“Uh, what?” Lance furrowed his eyebrows slightly. First Coran, now Nyma? Does he really seem that into Keith?

Nyma raised her eyebrows, surprised that Lance seemed so shocked by the idea of asking Keith out. “Lance, you’re clearly into him. Why not?” Nyma shrugs. “I’d be very surprised if he actually turned you down.”

Nyma watched as Keith appeared from the doorway to the kitchen in the back, writing something in pen on the back of his hand. She shifted her gaze back to Lance, shrugging one last time, before saying, “You’d have more of a shot with him than me. Just think about it.” Nyma than went to the door to hold it open for Keith, as he waved goodbye and they both got into the car together.

Lance wasn’t into Keith. He didn’t get it. Why did people keep trying to imply that? Sure, Keith was attractive, Lance wasn’t blind. But Keith was probably straight, and Lance doesn’t go down that path. He gets rejected enough as is; he didn’t need to go after anything off limits.

But then why would Nyma even suggest it? Was it some weird sick mind game, or was Keith bi, too?

“Lance, why are you so in your head right now? You seem out of it.”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry.” Lance rubbed his hands over his face. “Just thinking, I guess.” Lance brought his attention back to the kids, seating himself near Kenzie and Amara who were playing with Play-Doh to make some “spaghetti.” _Man, this stuff is really just begging kids to eat it._

“What’s up? Do you want to talk about it?”

“Well, don’t take anything from this, but… I was just wondering, if Keith was bi?”

“Lance! Do you like him?”

At this, Kenzie and Amara both started ‘oh-ing,’ interested in Lance and Hunk’s conversation. Lance rolled his eyes and mouthed to Hunk, _Look what you did._

“I just like him as a friend. The same way you two like each other.”

“Me and Amara are best friends!” Kenzie said, squeezing Amara tightly in her arms as Amara giggled.

“Exactly! Just like that.” Lance stood up from the floor next to them and moved closer to Hunk, to decrease any children eavesdropping on their conversation.

“No, I don’t. I was just curious cause Nyma and Coran both made it sound like he was into guys.”

“Well, yeah. Wait, do you not know this?”

“Know what?”

“Oh yeah, you weren’t there that day with us. You were with your sister.” Hunk tapped his chin slightly as he thought back to it.

“Know what?” Lance asked more impatiently.

“Keith is gay. So, if you want to ask him out, go ahead.” Hunk shrugged, moving to help Thomas find the cap to the marker he was coloring with. Lance put his hand on Hunk’s shoulder, eager to ask more questions.

“Wait, like gay gay? Not bi? But he was married to Nyma?”

“Dude, it’s really not my place. I mean, you get it. He’s out though, and since you were interested, I figured I could tell you that you had a shot. But again, kind of his story to tell. Just ask him about it.”

Lance understood why Hunk didn’t tell him anything, and Lance appreciates it, especially when it came to his coming out. Still, he was curious about what exactly happened with Keith and Nyma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. It's been forever since I updated. I really don't have much time anymore this year to write, and I've been super stressed. Tbh, the only reason I was able to finish this chapter was in procrastination of more serious work, but that's okay.   
> Hope you all like it! Seeing the comments and kudos on this fic always put a smile on my face!! :)


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) Hope you guys like this chapter. You deserve it.

Keith was thoroughly sweaty after he finished up at the gym, clothes sticking to him uncomfortably as his sweat started to turn cool in his walk towards his car. He dropped Nyma off after this morning, knowing that she hated going to the gym with him. To be fair though, he doesn’t like to talk while he’s working out, so he gets it.

As Keith was getting into his car, he got a call from Coran, surprisingly. Coran rarely ever picks up the telephone, pretty much exclusively talking to Keith in person or through post-it notes stuck in various places around the café. That’s how he even knew that he had the day off today – a bright orange note on the coffee grinder of all things.

“Hey, Coran, what’s up?”

“Keith, I have been thinking that it may be worth trying to expand the shop lately.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t get to work much these days with my side adventures and all, and I feel bad scheduling you to work more when I know you want to spend the time with your son, so – ”

“Coran, I really don’t mind working more hours. I’m not the kind of person to complain about getting paid more.”

“Well, no, but you deserve to have your evenings off.”

Keith stayed silent at that. He didn’t know if he agreed or not – he hates the word deserve sometimes. But it also meant the world to him to be able to spend his afternoons with his son. He didn’t want to rely on day cares and babysitters all the time.

Coran continued, “so I think what makes the most sense is expanding the shop to be 24 hours and maybe having a few new baristas. That will help us better serve those college kids and hopefully ease the crowding a bit. Plus, you can be an actual manager this way.”

“I don’t actually like dealing with people that much, Coran. I preferred really only having to manage myself.”

Keith heard a chuckle on the other line. “Yes, well, would the thought become more bearable with a pay raise? I think based on these new hours, plus the new money I’ve come into, it would be a good investment to get you training some new folk for the store, and getting it running all the time. What do you say?”

“Coran that sounds amazing. Yes, I’ll train the new people, but please just don’t hire any duds. And, Coran? Thank you.” _Thank you for looking out for me. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for putting my son first, too._

“Of course, laddy. I’ll be working tomorrow as well, but can you come in Thursday at 7 for your normal shift. Until some new people get hired, we’ll keep the same store hours.”

“’Kay, be there then. Bye.”

In the silence of his car, Keith smiled, happy at how today was going. He quickly shifted the gears into Drive and left the gym parking lot to take his much-needed shower.

****

Keith got out of the shower, letting his hair drip on his bare shoulders as he sat in front of his laptop, finishing up some work for Voltron that he needed. Hopefully they wouldn’t try to send him an extra article last minute to edit, and that would mean he would be done for this issue.

Looking up at the clock, he realized that it was already past lunch and he both needed to eat and get dressed soon so that he could pick up Leo. He quickly threw some Bagel Bites into the microwave (his, typically, late-night stash), before heading to his room, grabbing the first pants and shirt that came out. He ended up wearing some black ripped jeans that he liked, and an old t-shirt from college with a cat face on it. Or maybe t-shirt isn’t the right word – it’s a bit too short on him, not quite reaching the top of his jeans. He shrugs on a black and red plaid shirt, too lazy to button it up, before heading back to the kitchen and shoving the pizza rolls in his mouth. It’s not like he really needed to impress right now; he was just going to pick up his son and maybe do something with him.

Keith ended up still arriving at the day care a bit earlier than he planned on, figuring that even if he wasn’t picking up Leo, he wanted to spend the rest of the day with his son, even if that meant chilling at the daycare. He figures he did have the time to spend on a more proper meal, but he likes Bagel Bites. Shiro doesn’t need to find out.

The door chimed as he entered, and he saw quite a few more faces in here than he normally did when he picked up Leo. He supposes those kids normally get picked up and dropped off later than when he’s here.

Leo didn’t look up at the chime of the door, so Keith quietly walks over to him, quickly plopping down with his legs crossed, making Leo jump. The second he saw his dad, he excitedly jumped into his lap to hug him.

“Papa!”

“Cheonsa,” Keith bent his head down to kiss the top of Leo’s head, his nose burying in his hair. “How are you?”

“Hunk’s real good at singin Maui, Papa!” Leo pointed at Hunk who was currently putting away some of the racecar tracks and toys. He smiled at Keith, but stayed focused on his task. Though Leo would never refer to “You’re Welcome” by the actual title, Keith laughed, knowing what he meant.

Keith dramatically gasped. “Do you think Hunk is secretly a demi-god?”

Leo gasped, turning his whole body to look at his dad. “Hunk is a demi-dog, Papa.”

“Demi-god, Leo,” Keith laughed. He ruffled his son’s hair, as they got distracted by Leo wanting to show Keith his amazing Lego constructions.

****

Lance came out of the back room where he was trying to quietly deal with a phone call from a stressed parent without stressing out the kids. The dad was stressed because he was stuck at work because of his, ‘stupid dick of a boss,’ and neither him or his wife could pick up their twins later, so he was wondering if he could come now, and he would just keep them at work with him.

While Lance tried to offer to let them stay here longer, or even that he or Hunk could potentially drop them off later, he seemed frustrated at work, saying that he didn’t even know if he would get out by dinner at this rate. Not wanting to extend the length of the conversation, Lance simply agreed, saying that he would get Jared and Joseph ready to be picked up.

Lance hated dealing with parents sometimes. They rarely talked to them to say positive things. They were always stressed, or angry, or frustrated, and decided to take it out on them for some reason. Lance rubbed his temples, taking a deep breath and trying to remind himself that he wasn’t in the wrong, before putting on a smile to walk back into the kids’ room.

“Jared, Joseph, your dad is going to come pick you guys up early! Isn’t that excit”

Lance’s voice cut off when he saw Keith on the ground, his eyes immediately drawn to the tall form among the carpet full of children. Keith’s eyes were glowing as he laughed with Leo, making jokes with each other. His hair was also tied up in a tiny pony, which had Lance staring at the back of his neck for a moment too long.

Jared pulled on his jean leg, bringing him back to reality. “Lance! I need help with my shoes. Joseph knows how to do it already, and now he won’t help me.” Jared pouted, giving a pointed look to Joseph who was putting on his second shoe.

These two were a bit older than most of the kids that were in here, but the program was open to any students who attended the school, and Lance enjoyed having the two eight-year olds. Lance smiled, and quickly bent down to tie up Jared’s shoes, asking him to show off the light up design once they were all secure. Just then, the bell rang and their father was there, picking them up, with McDonalds in his hand. Probably a bit of a bribe since they’d be going to work with him. But Lance knew of any of the kids, these two would be well behaved. He smiled and waved off their dad, waiting till the door shut, before turning his attention back to the remaining kids. Only Anysia, Thomas, and Sarah were still here, meaning that the place would be cleared out soon enough.

For the second time, Lance was brought out of his thoughts by someone else. This time it was a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Keith standing there, Leo on his shoulders. Keith was smiling at him, hair ruffled up as Leo’s tiny fingers dug into his hair and pulled them out of the pony which was now threatening to fall out of his hair.

Now that Keith was standing, Lance was able to take in his whole outfit. He was wearing a crop top. Dear God, he’s wearing a crop top. Lance can see his muscles above his jeans, the small line of hair trailing from his belly button – _God when did it get so hot in here?_ Lance felt his cheeks heating up, and he snapped his eyes back to Keith’s face, glad to see that it didn’t seem he noticed the ogling.

“Hey Lance, Leo was wondering if we could start finger painting. He’s very excited for it. He wanted me to stay too so we could all finger paint together.” After a moment, Keith added, “Sorry, no rush. I don’t mind if you had like other things scheduled. This little man is just steering me right now.”

Lance blinked twice, before processing the words from Keith’s mouth. “Oh yeah, totally. Of course. I just need to take out the tarp and stuff, and then they can all get started.” When Lance turned his back to Keith to look for the clear plastic sheet they used to cover the table when the kids painted, he commented jokingly, “So, Kogane, you missin’ half a shirt over there or…?”

“Didn’t seem like it bothered you a few minutes ago, Lance.” Lance’s face exploded in red at this, glad his back was to Keith. “This is the kind of stuff I wore before…” Keith trailed off, not wanting to voice the last part. _Before I had Leo. When I was carefree._

“Well, for once, Mullet, you made a good fashion choice.” Lance took a break, pulling the tarp out of its place in the back of the closet, beginning to unfold it. Keith grabbed the other end, pulling it and helping Lance stretch it out over the table. Hunk brought the brushes and paints to the table, and they all sat around it, Leo taking the seat between Keith and Lance, with Hunk across from them between Thomas and Anysia. Sarah, despite her protests, was picked up right before they finished setting up the tarp, so Hunk had helped her mother take her home, promising her they could paint again soon.

The all had two paper plates in front of them – one to paint on and one two mix colors on. The kids eagerly grabbed for the colors, while the adults watched and made sure they didn’t pour out all the paint.

“Okay, so we have yellow, blue, and red. Can someone tell me what kind of colors these are?” Lance said, looking at the little ones. Keith smiled, silently taking in the moment to watch him work. It was nice to see him like this. _He’s cute._

Thomas raised his hand eagerly, almost falling out of his seat. “They’re primary colors!” Thomas said, before Lance could even ask his name. Lance rolled his eyes subtly but smiled. “Yup! Good job, Thomas.” Lance gave him a high five, getting blue all over his palm, but not seeming to care at all.

“Lance, what is your favorite color?” Leo asked, pulling back his attention.

“Hmm, that’s a hard question, but probably blue. What’s yours, Leo?”

“Look!” Leo ignored Lance’s question as he drew his attention to the paints he had on his plate. “Papa’s favorite color is red,” Leo said, putting red paint on his father’s nose, and laughing when his dad made a cross-eyed look.

“And your favorite color is blue,” Leo said, doing the same to Lance. Lance twitched his nose at the cold feeling and Keith fought the corners of his mouth which were threatening to pop up.

“And when you mix these two, what do you get, Leo?” Lance asked, pulling his eyes from his ridiculous looking father back to the child’s demonstration.

“You get purple!” Leo said, excitedly, mixing the two colors, and putting it on his nose, laughing with his whole body. “That’s my favorite color!”

“Good job, Leo,” Keith laughed, high fiving his son and rubbing his nose against his son’s, messing up the color.

“No, Papa! You’re making it all messy!” Leo pouted, his dad still chuckling lightly. Keith wiped his nose with a napkin before putting a new red dot there. “Better, cheonsa?”

Leo nodded vigorously, before shifting his attention across the table to ask the other kids their favorite colors, as they began to laugh and want to put paint on their noses as well. Though part of Lance knew this would probably go downhill quickly and they should stop it, they were being cute, and so what if things got a little messy? They knew the paint was safe, and the kids were having fun and even practicing their colors, Leo mixing orange up on his plate to make for Hunk.

“That’s a good look on you,” Keith said with a soft laugh, having moved to Leo’s seat after Leo ran over to sit in Hunk’s lap.

“Says Rudolph over here.”

“Hot Rudolph,” Keith whispered, leaning closer to Lance’s ear, to prevent the kids from overhearing, even if they were distracted with their new idea of creating self-portraits.

Lance looked at Keith’s eyes, surprised he said that. He thought he had gotten off the hook for checking out Keith after the earlier comment, but it seems not. Keith was giving him a smirk, eyebrow raised in a silent challenge.

Lance wanted to see Keith blush the way he had earlier. Which is the only rationale for what he did next. He dipped his finger in the blue paint on Leo’s plate, while leaning close to Keith, eyes locked.

Keith held his breathe, eyes starting to close slightly as Lance got closer.

Just to feel the wet, cold smear of paint across his upper lip.

He opened his eyes to see Lance laughing at him, his face turning hot as he realized he misinterpreted the situation. Then he realized what Lance did, and decided that this means war, dipping his finger in the rest and reaching for Lance, almost falling out of his seat as Lance leaned back to avoid the attack, barely getting a swipe across his cheek.

“Guys, please,” Hunk said, pulling them both back into reality. “No paint fights is one of our rules. Please.”

“Yeah, Lance, come on. No paint fights.” Anysia mimicked, sticking her tongue out at Lance teasingly. Lance stuck his tongue out back too.

“Actually, we should probably get everyone to start cleaning up soon. Thomas, Anysia, Leo, let’s head to the bathroom to wash our hands and faces. Your parents will probably be here soon.” Hunk herded the children away towards the sinks, helping them all get cleaned up and all the paint off themselves.

“Keith, you should’ve seen your face!” Lance laughed, wanting to be in the moment he was a moment ago with Keith.

“Well, next time, don’t be a coward and kiss me,” Keith said, under his breath, before turning to head towards the little kitchenette’s sink. More than anything, after that comment, Keith wanted to splash his face with cold water. And bite his tongue off. Definitely bite his tongue off.

Lance blinked, before quickly following Keith into the kitchenette, closing the door quietly behind him. Last thing he needed was for the kids to see this. He walked over to Keith, grabbing one of the markers that seemed to be everywhere in this place, and writing his number on Keith’s arm.

“Let’s have a date first, at least.” Lance teased, capping the marker, and leaving a blushing Keith there to help Hunk. _Score._  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer than normal, but I couldn't stop writing (I already have stuff for the next chapter now). Let me know what you think!! The base idea for this scene has been thought of since like the beginning, and it is kind of nerve-wracking to see it actually on paper now!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates so close together! Shocked!? Me too.
> 
> side note: I realize other countries call it different things: CPS stands for Child Protective Services (which is what it is called in the US, sorry i know im american)

Keith: Lance I already had your number.

Keith: We’ve talked on the phone before.

Lance: Well that would’ve ruined the drama of it all. Plus, now you’re at least texting me, instead of only calling for Leo-related things.

Keith: So you’re saying I’m encouraging this behavior. Cause I could not text you.

Lance: Nooooooo plss Keith

Keith: Fine but you’re on thin ice McClain

Both Lance and Keith avoided the reason for their texting, losing their nerve to bring up the idea of a date. Lance was worried that he was too forward with Keith, and didn’t want to put himself out there again. Besides, he took the first step – it had to be up to Keith now to ask him out.

Keith, on the other hand, was trying to quell the anxiety that came up when he even began to think about dating. Leo came first. That was his guiding principle since four years ago and it sure wasn’t going to change now just because some cute boy asked him out. How would Leo react if Keith started dating again? How would he react to him dating Lance, someone he was already so close to? What would happen if Keith or Lance ended things on bad terms? He couldn’t afford to find another day care. Plus, Leo would be heartbroken if he couldn’t keep seeing Lance in his free time.

Besides, Keith was fine on his own. Sure, even if Nyma wasn’t his type, he liked the warmth that came with someone else sleeping in his bed. Now, all he can really afford is the occasional one-night stand when Leo is with Nyma, and they never stayed the night. Not that Leo was going to spend the night with Nyma anytime soon or that he wanted a stranger to sleep beside him. But he still missed the affection.

But missing the affection meant he could pour all his love into Leo. And that had to count for something. He didn’t want anything to distract him from Leo, and the tensions between himself and Nyma were already doing this.

Sure, when Shiro asked him if he would date again, he agreed to the idea. I mean, if he found “the one” (not that he really believed in the idea), he wasn’t just about to say no. But this was different. This felt real. It wasn’t some mystical man who would come into his life, instantly bond with his son, and just naturally fit into his life like the missing puzzle piece. This was Lance. And, in the moments Keith felt uncharacteristically brave and in touch with his feelings, Lance was his _friend_. And Keith hadn’t had one of those before.

So, unless Lance brought it up again, that was it.

And he would just blame his hormones for the reason why he asked for a kiss. That, and the fact he just wanted to tease Lance. He didn’t think he’d step to his bait.

Keith: Also – you don’t happen to have connections within CPS, right?

Lance: The fact your asking me this is making me so nervous

Keith: Well, I’m just debating if its worth telling you

Lance: Tell me! Keith I’m needy, you can’t just put me on edge like that

Keith: I’m binging mothman documentaries w Leo this whole weekend

Keith: He’s got a moth costume

Keith: I wish I was joking

Lance: lkjalkejralekrj;a;kdsjf

Lance: _KEITH_

Lance: you cannot raise ur son to believe in mothman

Lance: I also had to look up what mothman was because of you and I hate that google will forever remember that now

Keith: you’re welcome

Lance: I need to see the moth costume though

Keith: It’s just some cheap grey “fairy” wings and a black turtle neck and leggings. He has these bright red glasses though and it really just

Keith: I’ve never loved my son more

Lance: typically that’s the day hes born not the day he dresses up as mothman

Keith: leave us alone we’re happy

Lance: Okay, I’m coming over. I can’t trust you two by yourselves apparently because you’re both children.

Lance: Someone mature needs to be present.

Keith: True, but don’t know why that means you’re coming.

Lance: rO0d

Keith: ew

Lance: But seriously, could I come over? I’ve gotta see what this mothman hype is about, and see my favorite boy dressed as a cryptid

Keith: Isn’t it against your rules to have favorites or something?

Lance: I won’t tell if you won’t

Keith put down his phone as another customer came into the coffee shop. He was working the afternoon shift, and since the 3pm rush passed, he hadn’t had to worry about customers for a while. He will probably get some more towards the later hours with college kids who are studying all night, but at least the 5pm rush didn’t typically leave people wanting coffee before they crashed on their couches and watched TV until they fell asleep.

When Keith looked up, ready to greet the customer, he was surprised to not see anybody. He swore he heard the bell above the door ring. Maybe he’s going mad. Just as he was about to grab his phone again to read Lance’s newest text, he heard a voice speak up.

“One carmal masiato and one black cawfee, please?”

One very familiar voice.

“Leo?” Keith climbed onto the counters, pushing his weight up with his forearms, to see his son on his tippy toes in order to try to look at the menu, or even just see over the table.

Just at that moment, the door bell rang again as Lance came through, laughing at the moment before picking Leo up and sitting him on the counter next to his dad. “Man, you should’ve seen your face. That was so good. Good job, Leo!” Lance raised his hand for a high five, which Leo happily indulged, giggling himself.

“Lance, what are you two doing?”

“Well, Shiro mentioned he was going to pick up Leo today since Coran couldn’t cover today with his interviews or whatever, and I told him I could just bring Leo to you. I figured this would be more fun. Leo had a lot of energy anyway, so we decided to walk over here and surprise you.”

Keith rolled his eyes, lowering himself off the counter (which gave Lance a moment to enjoy the way his muscles flexed, and yes, he did indulge himself, thank you very much), before grabbing a cup.

“Do you actually want your order right now? It’s like 5pm. Won’t you get super hyper?”

“Nah, coffee actually helps me focus some. And sadly, I have an essay to write tonight which I have been pushing off. Especially if I want to be free this weekend for a Mothman marathon.”

“You were serious? You want to come over this weekend?”

“Yeah, why not? Plus then I get to spend more time with Leo.” Lance ruffled Leo’s hair. Leo, understanding now that Lance was planning to come over, tried to stand on the counter. Lance quickly stuck out his hands to balance him, as Leo jumped on the counter, looking at his dad.

“Papa, Lance is going to spend the weekend with us! Please, papa, he can come, right?”

Keith quickly put down the cups he was holding, wiped his hands on his apron before grabbing his son. “Yes, cheonsa, Lance can come. But you need to stay on the floor while Papa is working, okay? It’s dangerous back here. Remember when Papa came home and you had to put three Nemo bandaids on me?” At Leo’s nod, Keith continued, squatting in front of his son, “That was because I got distracted by Lance and burned myself. So we gotta stay safe, okay? Go stand on the other side of the counter with Lance, please.”

Leo nodded, though he pouted a bit, before running underneath the counter and over to Lance’s side.

“Wait, you burnt yourself because of me?”

“Yeah, after one of the mornings with your dumb pick up lines. I told Coran about it later, and he’s the one who told me it was you trying to flirt. I didn’t really pay attention to the fact my thumb was the steaming milk and I touched the metal and burned myself. It was fine, but no offense Lance, your pick-up game needs work.”

“Well, I mean it got you thinking about me.”

Keith rolled his eyes, turning around to finish Lance’s caramel macchiato. Even though he couldn’t exactly parse it from his son’s pronunciation, he knew Lance well enough that he would pretty much only drink this at this point.

Lance wringed his hands, hoping that this was push enough for Keith to respond to the question that was on the table between them. If talking about Lance flirting with Keith wasn’t enough to remind Keith of the date proposition, Lance didn’t know what was. Part of him was worried this was Keith’s way of avoiding the topic all together because he really didn’t want to go on a date with him, but the small ounce of hope in his heart told him that maybe he was nervous, or that he didn’t want to flirt in front of his son, or maybe he really was just being that dense.

Keith turned around, putting the drink on the table in between them, and smiling at Lance. “I know you were trying to order another black coffee for me, but I still owe you for the last time, so this one is on the house. Especially since you brought my son to me.” Keith smiled at Lance brightly, before coming around the counter to pick up his son.

“So, um, I’ll see you this Friday? For your movie marathon?” Lance bit the inside of his lip. Maybe this was Keith’s date proposition. I mean, he had a son to care for, maybe going to dinner and a movie wasn’t something that would work well for him.

“Yeah, sure. Bring Hunk or Pidge or whoever if you’d like.” Keith smiled, as Leo pipped in his support for Pidge to come.

“I miss Pidge! I want her to come!”

“Okay, buddy, I’ll ask her. Don’t worry,” Lance replied, keeping his smile tight and trying not to let his disappointment show. Maybe he had read it all wrong. Maybe it was just part of their teasing or whatever. But at least their friendship was still there, right? “I should probably head out to get started on that paper, but I’ll see you then. Or probably tomorrow actually.”

“Good luck. I’m sure it’ll be great. And hey, if you want any help with it, I do work editing part-time, so I’d be happy to read it over.”

“Thanks. Bye, Leo. Bye, Keith.”

“Bye, Lance!” Leo waved, excitedly, squirming in Keith’s arms.

“Bye, Lance.”

As Lance began his walk to the daycare in order to retrieve his car, he let the smile drop off his face, the exhaustion waving in. It would be okay. Maybe, if he gave it a bit of time, he could try again. Make it more serious. Maybe Keith would consider it then. But Lance also doubted himself, wondering if it was even worth it. Keith probably just saw him as a friend. Hell, he probably just saw him as Leo’s caretaker. I mean, he didn’t even invite him over for their movie weekend until Leo became excited about it, and then he invited over the rest of the daycare crew. If it weren’t for Leo, maybe Keith wouldn’t give two shits about Lance. Lance, sighed, taking a sip of his coffee, hoping the sweetness would wash away the bitter taste on his tongue.

Lance felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, so he pulled it out, figuring it would be Hunk wondering where he was at.

Keith: Check your cup.

Lance furrowed his eyebrows, before looking at his cup. He lowered the coffee sleeve around it, to see that Keith had written his number there with a tiny heart next to it. Lance bit back his smile.

Lance: Cute, but kind of ruined when you literally text me to tell me.

Keith: You weren’t any better,

Lance: But you had to admit you loved how smooth I was

Keith: Never said I didn’t

Keith: But hope you realize how lame it was too

Lance: But you loved it

Keith: But I did

Keith bit his lip, knowing he was playing a dangerous game. He didn’t want to lead Lance on, but he loved this. He loved seeing this side of Lance, he loved flirting with him, he loved thinking about them together. But sometimes reality is worse than his imagination. So for now, he was going to just keep it light. And hopefully, Lance would be on the same page.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg 1) had so much trouble with wanting to play around with lance's texting style, but also wanting it to be clear and readable  
> 2) i know this isn't what you guys expected after the last chapter, but I'm being true to my vulnerable boy.  
> 3) yes, i am a hoe for mothman loving keith, thank you for coming to my tedtalk
> 
> Love reading your comments, and I really want to thank the people who commented on the last chapter, because I felt so inspired to keep writing, which is why this chapter came out so soon (and was only delayed by the fact I worked on another klance fic first)
> 
> also yall - check out strawberriesklance on insta if you haven't!!! oh my god i love it, and tbh im not huge on highschool aus but it is so good !


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick update! Exciting right? Also this chapter is a bit longer than normal, but hopefully you all like it!

Keith was on edge. He felt like things were kind of building up ever since he woke up this morning.

Today, Nyma was going to pick up Leo from the day care.

Keith knew it should be fine, and he had even asked Leo to make sure the idea didn’t make him upset, but Shiro was busy after work, Keith was still covering for Coran as he did interviews. And Nyma, well, Nyma was his mother. And Keith wanted to give her a second chance. But that didn’t stop him from stressing out.

Plus, it’s not like he had another choice.

After getting Leo ready in the morning and packing his lunch, the drive to Little Lions was silent. Leo almost never was this quiet with him, and Keith worried. He seemed to just be tired, as he yawned a few times in his car seat, so Keith didn’t want to push it, but God, this wasn’t helping his nerves.

He carried his son inside, decidedly holding him even as he spoke to Hunk.

“Hey, man. What’s up?”

“Hunk, Nyma is going to pick up Leo today. She should be here right at 5:30pm. If she isn’t, please give me a call.” Keith spoke quickly, hoping that his look conveyed that he didn’t want to get into a discussion with Hunk about this. The decision was made, and it wasn’t really like he had another choice at this point.

He was conscious of Leo’s body language in his arms, waiting to feel if his muscles clenched, or if he shrunk back. Leo gripped his shirt collar tighter but did nothing else. Keith’s heart did the same, feeling as if it blocked his lungs.

“If you want, Lance and I could watch him afterwards. You can just stop by our place to pick him up when you’re able.”

Keith bit his tongue before his impulsivity could get the better of him. He wanted to ask Hunk and Lance to watch Leo so bad, knowing that Leo would be happier with them, knowing that he trusted them more. But still, he needed to become more comfortable trusting Nyma. Nyma was Leo’s mother, and he couldn’t just ignore that fact.

“No, it’s okay. I appreciate the offer, but I’m not going to impose on you guys.”

“Okay, um, yeah, that’s fine. I’ll call if anything comes up. Feel free to call me or Lance if you need anything.”

“Yeah, thank you.” Keith rocked Leo in his arms slightly, cupping his head as he whispered into his son’s ear, “I love you, cheonsa. I’m sorry about today, but then tomorrow we get to have our movie weekend, right? And we can even have chicken nuggets and mac and cheese, buddy.”

If he was being truly honest with himself, those words were for Keith more than Leo.

Leo nodded into Keith’s shoulder. Keith set his son down, watching him go off to the Play Doh station which was set up on the center table.

“Hunk, uh, would you mind,” Keith rubbed the back of his neck, not exactly sure how to put his request in words without it coming all wrong. “Uh, just please keep an eye on him today? And like, if he seems upset, please, please just give me a call. I’ll have my phone on me all day.”

“Yeah, of course, Keith.” Hunk smiled empathetically, though Keith couldn’t help but feel pity in his gaze. Keith gave a small forced smile, before nodding his head and turning around and out the door.

He rubbed his face before running his hand through his hair. Today was going to be a long day.

****

When Keith unlocked the shop, he saw Lance’s car already pulling up into the spot next to his. He gave a small wave and held the door open for him, before heading behind the counter and starting on Lance’s order.

“Hey, you okay? You seem a little run down.”

“Wow, thanks. You really know how to woo ‘em.” Keith replied in monotone, not turning back to face Lance. He knew he looked like shit, and honestly he didn’t want to address it. But Lance seemed not to be getting the message.

“Seriously, do you want to talk about anything? I have time.”

Keith sighed as he capped Lance’s drink, putting it on the counter between the two of them. Just seeing Lance’s look of concern caused his dam to break.

“I’ve just got a lot to think about right now. Nyma is picking up Leo today, which I know he probably isn’t psyched about, but I don’t really have another choice. And then I have to think about this weekend because I wasn’t planning on hosting anyone, so now I have to see if I can buy stuff and clean up, not that I really have the time to do that. I’m working a double shift today because Coran is still doing interviews, and even though I know it’ll make everything easier when he does find someone to hire, the fact that I’m working so much more is killing me because I feel like I don’t get to see Leo as much, and I hate working these extra long shifts because I essentially work through both our peak times, and I don’t even like dealing people and – “

Lance cut Keith off by putting a hand on his shoulder and rubbing slightly. “Keith, you’re working yourself into a panic. Breath.”

Keith squeezed his eyes shut and took a few breaths before opening them again and looking at Lance. “Sorry.”

“Hey, don’t apologize. I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to tell me. And I think I could help with some of that stuff if you’d like.”

“No, Lance, I really don’t wa – “

“Just hear me out. Pidge has been looking for a part-time job because they don’t really get much time to come to the daycare, and college is expensive. Coran already likes them and if I’m not mistaken you do too, which will make training them and working with them easier. They would happily take over night shifts, because that’s when they prefer to work, but obviously the daycare isn’t open that late.

“And I’m sorry about this weekend. I feel like I kind of invited myself over, and if it is really stressing you out this much, it’s okay to say no. I mean, yeah, I’d love to hang out with you, but I’d never want to be a burden. I can let everyone now it is off if you’d like.”

“No, no. It’s not that. Leo would really like to hang out with you all, and given that he has trouble making friends, I want him to spend time with people other than me, even if he seems to get along with adults more, which I’m still a little concerned about.” Keith looked down, playing with the tie around his apron. “Plus, I mean, I’d like to spend time with you, outside of either of our jobs.”

Lance smiled gently, and let his hand fall down Keith’s arm to his hand, getting Keith to look up at him. “Good, cause I really want to too. So how about this, we all bring snacks and such, so all you have to worry about is getting a screen set up to play your queue of Mothman videos. Hunk and I can make popcorn, I’m sure Pidge already has a collection of candy they can bring, and we can ask Shiro to bring drinks?”

Keith smiled softly at Lance. “Thank you, Lance. That – That would honestly be amazing. Thank you.” Keith felt half of the weight fall of his shoulders, and he felt like his words couldn’t convey his pure gratitude nearly enough.

“Of course, man. And I’ll just throw the offer out there, but Hunk and I would be more than happy to take Leo with us and watch him if you’d prefer. But also, I won’t say anything if you prefer he goes with Nyma.”

Keith bit his lip, wondering what he really wanted. He felt obligated to let Nyma have her second chance, but he trusted Lance. He cared for Lance and he knew Lance cared for Leo a lot.

“Just – I trust you to make the best judgement. Do what Leo feels happiest with, okay?” Keith hoped he wasn’t asking too much of Lance, but he wasn’t going to be there to see how Leo reacted to seeing Nyma. He wasn’t going to be there to see if the smile falls off his face, or to see if he willingly goes up to her. And he knew Lance. He trusted Lance.

“Yeah, of course, Keith.” Lance gave him a small smile. Keith let his eyes quickly fall to Lance’s lips before he caught himself.

Lance wasn’t as shy about looking away.

Keith quickly pulled himself out of Lance’s grasp as his cheeks exploded with color. “Let me make Hunk’s drink. Sorry I’ve kept you for so long.” Keith quickly set to work, glad to have the distraction from his quick beating heart.

“I’m happy to help and spend time with you. Really don’t stress about it.”

Keith turned around, Hunk’s chai in his hand and slid it across the table to Lance. “Well, I appreciate it. Thank you. And if you’re not too busy, I might go all alone, so text me if you get a free chance.”

“Sure thing, Mullet. But know that if one of the kids takes my phone and drops it in their applesauce, that is on you.”

“I’ll take that chance. Bye, Lance.”

Lance held his breath, before quickly leaning forward and giving Keith a small kiss on his cheek. “Bye, Keith.” Lance turned around, carrying both drinks, not daring to look back. Screw it beings Keith’s turn. He didn’t want to wait, and he saw Keith look at his lips earlier.

Keith’s eyes followed Lance as he got into his car and drove away. He smiled, thankful, but overall unsure of what he did to deserve him in his life. He just hoped Lance wasn’t going anywhere soon.

****

Lance fidgeted with the crayons he was currently cleaning up. It was nearing 5:30pm, and while Lance was more than happy to help Keith and Leo, he didn’t exactly know what he should be doing. Should he directly ask Leo what he would like? Should he just see how Leo reacts when Nyma gets there? Should he see if Leo even likes the idea of going with him and Hunk?

Lance finished cleaning up the Henry-designed array of crayons over the carpet, before going to Hunk who currently setting up a new movie on the television.

“Hey, could I talk to you for a moment?”

Hunk finished inserting _Tangled_ into the DVD player and hitting play before turning to face Lance. “Sure. Hey everyone, Tangled is starting so anyone who wants to watch it lets come sit quietly in front of the TV.” Though most of the kids were there, Hunk made the announcement and then did a quick headcount. Given that all of the kids were sitting on the main carpet now, Hunk led Lance towards the back, where they had a bit more privacy but could see all the kids. “So what’s up?”

Lance plopped down on the ground and patted the seat next to Hunk. “I don’t know what we should do with Leo.”

“Well, I offered to Keith if he wanted us to take him home, but he seemed insistent about Nyma taking him.”

“When I visited the coffee shop today, he said that he trusted my judgement to do what is best for Leo. But I don’t know what that means.”

“I mean, I personally would feel a lot better if we take Leo home and just let Keith pick him up later, you know that.”

“Yeah, but Leo may want to spend time with his mom, and I don’t know if its our place to really step in and stop that? And even if he doesn’t want to, isn’t there an element of it just being healthy for Leo to spend time with her. I mean, she’s his _mom_ , Hunk.”

“Just because she’s biologically related to him doesn’t mean she deserves anything. Mom is a title you earn, not something you just get.”

Hunk had gotten tense and Lance winced, realizing the implication of his words. “Hunk, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything about you or your moms.”

Hunk gave Lance a small smile. “No, I know. It’s just sensitive I guess. It’s just hard growing up hearing that kind of shit a lot.”

“No, I get it. I deserved that. I guess I just meant more like – everyone makes mistakes, parents especially. I don’t think it is our place to decide she loses her position because of one thing.”

“But what she did was extremely negligent, Lance. I just, I know it isn’t really our place, but what if something happened to Leo. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself. And the fact Nyma seems to be continuing on just fine – ugh, it gets my blood boiling.” Lance laid an arm on Hunk’s arm, smiling sympathetically.

“When Nyma gets here, I’m just going to talk to her. But, just in case, can you double check to make sure we have the car seat in the back still?”

“Already checked this morning. It’s there.”

Just then, the bell over the door rang, as the first wave of parents began to show, heading straight to the daycare after their various 9-5s end. Lance stood up and went to the front desk, greeting parents and putting on his best face, as he hugged and waved goodbye to Jared & Joseph, Anysia, and Emma.

Finally, Nyma walked through the door. She looked a bit messy, loose hair hanging front her ponytail, sunglasses unevenly thrown on her head, red tinting her slightly damp face, as if she just ran all the way here.

“Hi, Nyma. Keith told us you were picking up Leo today.”

“Yes, I am. He’s been working a lot of double shifts at the coffee shop lately.”

“You look kind of shaken. Are you good?”

Nyma nodded quietly, not elaborating on anything as she brushed some of her loose hairs behind her ear.

“I just – I care about Leo a lot and I just want to make sure you’re good to take care of him. Hunk and I are free this evening, and we would be more than happy to take Leo with us if you need to continue working or whatever.”

“I’m actually unemployed right now. I quit my job.” Nyma didn’t make eye contact with him anymore. “But it seems like the only place I can get a decent career now is going to be out of town. So, if you don’t mind. I’d really like to spend as much time with my son as I can before I have to have that conversation with Keith and Leo.” Nyma looked up now, hoping Lance could realize how sincere she was.

Lance nodded, before calling to Leo and helping him get his stuff ready. He seemed reluctant to leave, but Lance promised that he would have fun with his mom, and that he could even take one of the lego sets if he wanted to play with it at home. Leo nodded eagerly, so Lance put the spaceship kit into his backpack, and said hugged Leo.

“Buddy, if you ever need to call me, I’m going to give your Mom my phone number okay? And your papa has it too.”

Leo nodded before heading to his mom and grabbing her hand.

Lance quickly shared his phone number with her and smiled. “Leo sometimes wants to call me for a lullaby before he goes to bed, so I just want to make sure you have my number, too,” Lance lied. It wasn’t technically a lie, Lance justified to himself. He had done it a few times after the incident, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Leo would want one if he was supposed to fall asleep at Nyma’s place today.

“Goodbye, you two. Take care.” Lance forced a smile as he waved, and quickly took out his phone to text Keith after they had left.

Lance: Leo left with Nyma. Gave her my number just in case.

Lance: I don’t think you need to worry Keith.

Lance: I trust Nyma to do the right thing.

Keith: Thank you Lance

Keith: Really, for everything. I appreciate it.

Lance tucked his phone back into his pocket, before closing his eyes and murmuring a quiet prayer. It was something he was raised to do by his mother, and it’s all like he really felt was left for him to do. Lance took another deep breath, opened his eyes, and began to help Thomas get ready to go as his dad’s entrance rung the front door bell.

**Author's Note:**

> thefivecrazypeople on tumblr was the brilliant genius who came up for the idea of this fic, so praise her cause wow would this fic not be where it's at if not for her. 
> 
> If you want to talk to me about this fic: One: Please do! I love feedback so much! Two: I read all the comments on this fic and you can also hmu!
> 
> Main: energeticnerd  
> Writing: afangirlimagines


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